NOTRE DAME TODAY New Day
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SPRING 2021 ISSUE NOTRE DAME TODAY new day The College’s 15th President, J. Michael Academic achievement and Catholic A Tribute to Marian K. Shaughnessy Pressimone, Ed.D., presents areas of leadership awards, plus Commencement and the Donor Honor Roll focus at the anniversary of his first year celebrations, from 2020 for calendar year 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS PRESIDENT J. Michael Pressimone, Ed.D. on the CONTRIBUTORS cover Culeen Carey The Class of 2020 and Families Ann Coakley Nakeysha Hamilton ’07 Patricia E. Harding Nadya Jacoby Kimberly Krozser ’17 The Marian K. Shaughnessy Family The Betty Gerhart Smith ’49 Family The Mary Ellen Marsh Wolff ’45 Family PHOTOGRAPHY Dave Hall ’12 DESIGN & LAYOUT Spiral Studio Notre Dame College, a Catholic institution J. Michael Pressimone, Ed.D. (cover and center) became the 15th president of Notre Dame in the tradition of the Sisters of Notre Dame, College in 2020. He stands, socially distanced, with his leadership team (from left to right): educates a diverse population in the Culeen Carey, vice president for advancement; Tera Johnson, former dean of students and liberal arts for personal, professional title IX coordinator; Florentine Hoelker, Ph.D., dean of the Finn Center for Adult, Online and and global responsibility. Graduate Programs; David Orosz, Ph.D., dean of faculty, Marie Goetz Geier Distinguished Professor of STEM and professor of biochemistry; Sandy Grassman, M.B.A., dean of academic programs and associate professor of management information systems; Ted Steiner, M.A., Notre Dame Today is published by the chief mission officer and director of campus ministry; Sr. Carol Ziegler, SND, Ph.D., executive Notre Dame College Communications Office assistant to the president and executive director of the Abrahamic Center; and Cheryl for alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends Noviski, C.P.A., vice president of finance and administration. Not pictured is Beth Ford ’00, of the College. M.A., vice president of enrollment, and Scott Swain, director of athletics. The opinions expressed in Notre Dame Today are those of the editorial staff, writers or their sources and do not necessarily represent the 02 CAMPUS NEWS 26 STUDENT PROFILE(S) official positions of Notre Dame College. Graduation Award Winners 08 NEW PRESIDENT CONNECTION ACROSS BRINGS EXTENSIVE 28 TIME AND SPACE HIGHER ED Alumna Receives Letter 73 NOTRE DAME TODAY EXPERIENCE Years After it is Written 4545 College Road, South Euclid, Ohio 44121 18 NOTRE DAME p | 216.373.5301 30 CLASS NOTES COLLEGE BEYOND 100 f | 216.373.3802 The New President's Plan 34 ALUMNI PROFILE e | [email protected] for the Second Century Mary Ellen Marsh Wolff ’45 Visit Notre Dame Today online at 20 DONOR PROFILE 36 IN MEMORIAM NotreDameCollege.edu/about/notre-dame-today A Tribute to Marian Shaughnessy 38 TOWER TRIBUTES Connect with Notre Dame College on Esteemed Advancement Team Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Flickr! 22 THE BIG PICTURE(S) Commencement 2020 39 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS 2019 Dear Friends OF NOTRE DAME COLLEGE What a year! Am I right? Every one of us can look back over the last year and marvel at the complexities and challenges we encountered. My arrival at Notre Dame College was moved up from the originally scheduled July 1 to early April. I refer to this three- month period at the helm at NDC as my “Covid blessing.” Weird, right? How could this year be seen as a blessing? Well, first and foremost, I became a part of this wonderfully mission-driven, diverse community, which genuinely makes a difference in the lives of the students we serve. My personal passions for equity, justice and opportunity resonate beautifully with this mission begun nearly 100 years ago by the Sisters of Notre Dame. Next, that three-month period gave me time to better assess the state of affairs at Notre Dame and assemble a team of people ready to respond to the challenges of being a small, private, Catholic college in the midst of a pandemic. Some of what you will read in this magazine are reflections of that assessment and provide direction for the College to move boldly forward. Speaking of the pandemic, I am proud of the efforts of our leadership team, faculty, staff and students and how they were able to navigate a very difficult transition and allowed us to return to in-person instruction in the fall. We used our time wisely to plan and prepare and implement the Falcon Flex program, which helped keep our community safe. We all hope that we will emerge shortly from the restrictions placed on us by the pandemic. We want to return to a vibrant campus life and a rich educational environment. We have a great deal to look forward to. This issue looks both back and to the future. That’s where I want us to focus. We march toward the 100th anniversary of the institution, and we do so with optimism, hope and faith. Go Falcons! J. MICHAEL PRESSIMONE, ED.D. We want to return to President a vibrant campus life and a rich educational environment. NDT NEW DAY 1 campus news NOETZEL FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP BECOMES COLLEGE’S FIRST $1 MILLION ENDOWMENT The Notre Dame College Noetzel Family Scholarship Endowment Fund surpassed its $1 million goal this academic year with the support of the family’s matching challenge gift. The scholarship commemorates the legacies of Notre Dame alumna Frances Burger Noetzel ’41 and her niece, Gretchen Noetzel Walsh. Frances Burger Noetzel graduated from Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in music in 1941. She served as an advisor and trustee at the College for more than 60 years. “Our mother was devoted to Notre Dame College and dedicated to fostering tolerance and education for people of all backgrounds and differences,” said Mary Noetzel Brevard, Frances’ eldest daughter. “There is no better tribute to her commitment than creating opportunities for students with learning differences through the wonderful program founded by her niece.” Frances Burger Noetzel in 1990, eight years before she and her husband, Justin, established Gretchen Noetzel Walsh is the founding director of the College’s Academic Support the College’s first charitable annuity trust which Center for Students with Learning Differences. The endowment will aid student provided scholarships for incoming students. members of the center. The first recipients of the Noetzel Family Scholarship Endowment Fund were named during the 2020-2021 academic year. ENTREPRENEURSHIP OFFERINGS THRIVE WITH NEW GIFTS, GRANTS The Burton D. Morgan Foundation, amplified by multiple new donors, is continuing its support of the innovative entrepreneurship program at Notre Dame College. A continuation grant from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation has been supplemented by the first gift from the Harvard Business School (HBS) Alumni Club of Northeast Ohio and contributions from two additional HBS alumni donors. Entrepreneurship activities at Notre Dame also have received significant gifts from the Cleveland Foundation Fenn Educational Grant and from individuals, including members of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees, alumni and other friends of the College. In combination, the gifts and grants reinforce programming at Notre Dame’s campus Enterprise Development Center, called the EDC @ NDC, which supports more than 100 students pursuing Notre Dame’s ground- breaking entrepreneurship offerings. The funds received from all donors allow for the expansion of course content, provide scholarships to students and strengthen the culture of entrepreneurship on campus through student participation in off- and on- campus activities. Notre Dame’s entrepreneurship program is advanced among colleges and universities. Students can add entrepreneurship as a co-major to any other degree program at the College. The resulting double major trains students to apply an entrepreneurial mindset to their specific field of study, growing their own career and business endeavors to create personal wealth for themselves and their families. 2 NOTRE DAME TODAY SPRING 2021 NOTRE DAME UNVEILS CYBERSECURITY MAJOR, SITUATION ROOM Notre Dame College is launching a cybersecurity major and opening the first of multiple high-tech interactive learning spaces in its $400,000, three-phase project in support of the new bachelor’s degree and related intelligence programs. The College is enrolling its first students in the new cybersecurity Bachelor of Arts program and has completed construction of a state-of-the-art situation room and cybersecurity lab. The cybersecurity major prepares students with the information technology and problem-solving skills needed to safeguard sensitive data for private and public organizations across the country. The College also offers a cybersecurity minor. Both programs are available on site and online. “Notre Dame College is the only institution in the Cleveland-metro area to have this cybersecurity program and a brand new facility on campus,” said Florentine Hoelker, Ph.D., dean of the Finn Center for Adult, Online and Graduate programs at the College. “Notre Dame College is truly cutting edge as far as this program.” The $200,000, 1,100-square-foot cybersecurity situation room features video screens on each wall and enhanced Internet and computer equipment to simulate cyberattacks, so students can devise and implement defense strategies. All technologies have recording and video capture and transmission features. The innovative classroom also features an observation room from which faculty instructors can monitor and alter the technology in real time. Cybersecurity Curriculum Notre Dame has been collaborating with corporate and state technology and security agencies to design the situation room and to develop the new major, which requires 70 credits. The minor in cybersecurity is 19 credits. The curriculum for the cybersecurity bachelor’s degree is structured to enable students to earn multiple certificates based on industry standards as they progress through the program, in addition to the bachelor’s degree.