Father Hesburgh
Priest, President, Citizen of the World
Milestones
Born in Syracuse, N.Y. (1917)
Enrolled at Notre Dame (1934)
Ordained as a Holy Cross priest (1943)
Named the 15th President of Notre Dame (1952)
Received first presidential appointment (1954)
Accepted first honorary degree (1954)
Named a Holy See diplomat (1956)
Appointed to Civil Rights Commission (1957)
Featured in Time magazine (1962)
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964)
Partnered with Martin Luther King Jr. (1964)
Empowered the laity at Notre Dame (1967)
Called for greater diversity of Notre Dame workforce (1967)
Led a Vatican human rights delegation (1968)
Chaired the Civil Rights Commission (1969)
Delivered the "Hesburgh Declaration" (1969)
Resumed post-season football (1970)
Maintained calm during national unrest (1970)
Welcomed Notre Dame's first women students (1972)
Provided vision for the Tantur Ecumenical Institute (1972)
Represented the Holy See and United States (1974)
Stepped down from Notre Dame presidency (1987)
Co-chaired a national athletic commission (1989)
Authored a best-selling autobiography (1990)
Led Harvard University's board of overseers (1994)
Awarded the Congressional Gold Medal (1999)
More Milestones
Father Hesburgh Today
Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., turned 95 in May 2012. He may have retired in 1987 after 35 years as Notre Dame's President, but the momentum he established as a leader in higher education, advocate for human rights, and citizen of the world continues to this day.
For Father Hesburgh, Notre Dame has always been home. Now living in Holy Cross House with other retired members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, he keeps office hours daily in the library that bears his name. He maintains his correspondence, receives visitors, keeps up with the news, and says Mass daily. His quarters abound with photos, gifts, and memorabilia from a still-full life, and he savors the view of campus from his 13th-floor window overlooking the Dome and Our Lady.
