NDIGI is delighted to welcome Vinayak Nikam, director and biotech investor at Paradigm BioCapital Advisors, and Colleen Nikam '08, investment advisor at Goldman Sachs, to Notre Dame! Colleen and Vinayak will engage in a fireside chat to teach us about the current landscape of biotech investing, the investment advisory business, and the many paths you can take to find a fulfilling career in financial services. Food from Einstein's Bagel Co. will be provided! Please let us know if you’ll be attending by filling out this short Google Form.   Originally published at ndigi.nd.edu.

The International Day of Peace, established by the United Nations in 1981, provides an opportunity for the Notre Dame community to come together to pray for peace. This year’s theme is Cultivating a Culture of Peace. What can we do to create peace in the world? Join University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., at the Our Lady of the Lake World Peace Plaza (next to St. Mary's Lake, across the street from the Grotto) for a prayer service to celebrate the International Day of Peace.  Originally published at pulte.nd.edu.

Leo Varadkar, former Taoiseach of Ireland (2017-2020, 2022-24) and current member of parliament in Dáil Eireann, will join the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies for a public discussion of Irish current affairs, including public health initiatives, civic life, and the political future of the island of Ireland. Varadkar will be in conversation with Colin Barr, professor of modern Irish history and director of the Clingen Family Center for Study of Modern Ireland. About the Speaker Leo Varadkar was Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland from 2017-2020 and again from 2022-24. He served in cabinet for 13 years in the Ministries of Transport, Tourism & Sport, Enterprise, Trade, Employment, and Social Protection and Health. He is currently Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency and a member of Ireland's Council of State. Varadkar helped guide Ireland through the Pandemic with public health and economic responses that were internationally recognized for their efficacy. He led Ireland through Brexit, preventing a hard border between North and South, upholding the Good Friday Agreement, and maintaining Ireland's place at the heart of the European Union and its single market. A strong supporter of Irish unification, Varadkar allocated over €1 billion to North-South projects under the Shared Island Fund and helped to get the power-sharing institutions of the Good Friday Agreement operating again. As Taoiseach, Varadkar established a Child Poverty and Well-being Programme, early results of which include the introduction of free school books, hot school meals, and lower childcare fees for working parents. Varadkar also doubled spending on the arts, culture, and sport as well as significantly enhanced workers’ rights. His government introduced paid parental leave and statutory sick pay and made major progress towards a living wage and occupational pensions for workers. During Varadkar’s premiership, greenhouse gas emissions reached a 30-year low on foot of a new climate law, which included major investment in renewable energy production as well as a carbon tax with revenues ring-fenced for climate initiatives like subsidized home retrofits and greener farming. At the time of Varadkar leaving office, Ireland had record levels of employment and a budget surplus that allowed for increased investment in public infrastructure, such as new public housing, schools, and healthcare facilities. Varadkar is a medical doctor and a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. He lives with his partner Dr. Matthew Barrett in Dublin. Originally published at irishstudies.nd.edu.

Javier Zamora is a Salvadoran poet and activist. In his debut New York Times bestselling memoir, Solito, Javier retells his nine-week odyssey across Guatemala, Mexico, and eventually through the Sonoran Desert. Zamora was a 2018-2019 Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and holds fellowships from CantoMundo, Colgate University (Olive B. O’Connor), MacDowell, Macondo, the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation (Ruth Lilly), Stanford University (Stegner), and Yaddo. He is the recipient of a 2017 Lannan Literary Fellowship, the 2017 Narrative Prize, and the 2016 Barnes & Noble Writer for Writers Award for his work in the Undocupoets Campaign. Co-sponsors: Creative Writing Program, Department of American Studies, Institute for Latino Studies -- Join the Center for Social Concerns on Friday afternoons of home football weekends for MVP Fridays: lectures by national leaders, journalists, and writers on questions of meaning, values, and purpose.Learn more