WELCOME, WINTER 2020
There have been many exciting updates and events at the University of Notre Dame since we wrote to you last summer. But today I will focus on one that couples our efforts to grow Notre Dame’s research programs with a series of efforts that truly embody our mission: several new and expanded research and educational programs to fight poverty, both nationally and internationally, made possible by a transformative $111 million gift from the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation.
This generous gift will, in part, support the growth of the Pulte Institute for Global Development, which was originally founded as the Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development (NDIGD). It has its roots in the University’s strategic research initiative process, which began over 10 years ago as a way to identify programs of research, scholarship, or creative endeavor that are of top quality in an important area, have impact on the academy, nation, or world, and are consistent with, or strengthen, Notre Dame’s Catholic character. The NDIGD and now the Pulte Institute achieve just that.
The fully endowed Pulte Institute will execute its bold strategic plan to “address global poverty and inequality through policy, practice, and partnership and to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate projects and programs that promote human dignity, empowering the world’s poorest and vulnerable populations to flourish.” Led by Ray Offenheiser and part of the University’s new Keough School of Global Affairs, the Pulte Institute has grown from its early conception as a global development field research program to a powerhouse of policy and scholarship that cuts across many academic fields in order to jointly fight for the common good.
As the grateful recipient of the impactful Pulte Family Charitable Foundation gift, the entire Notre Dame community is looking forward to witnessing the Pulte Institute grow and continue its trajectory as one of Notre Dame’s signature research programs with global impact, serving as a model for others on how Notre Dame can balance being both distinguished and distinctive in its programs of research, scholarship, and creative endeavor. I am excited about the possibilities for our other research programs as well – from environmental change to global health, and from rare and neglected diseases to civic innovation, and more. Notre Dame’s ongoing investments in research truly have the capacity to help us achieve our founder’s original mission to be a “powerful means for doing good in the world.”
Sincerely,
Vice President for Research
University of Notre Dame
