The University of Notre Dame Alumni Association recognized a number of distinguished alumni during its annual spring board meeting in April. The association presents awards three times per year. The awards fall into six categories, each representing an area in which the University encourages excellence: the arts, athletics, service to the Alumni Association, service to country, service to humanity and service to the University. 

The following three awards were presented on campus April 19 and 20: 

The James E. Armstrong Award

Established in 1978, the James E. Armstrong Award, presented this year to Carol Mullaney, class of 1982, is conferred on a graduate who is a current or former employee of Notre Dame and has rendered distinguished service to the University.

Mullaney currently serves as senior director in the Office of the President, where she helps coordinate operations and communications for the Board of Trustees; leads high-impact, strategic projects; manages and coordinates major University-wide events; and provides critical support to the President’s Leadership Council.  

During the 2020-21 academic year, Mullaney provided leadership to several initiatives associated with the University’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent commitment to in-person learning and living. She ultimately became the director of the COVID-19 Response Unit (CRU), which included oversight of the hotline, testing center, student compact compliance, contact tracing, care and concern and housing teams.

Prior to joining the University as a full-time staff member, Mullaney served on the Notre Dame Alumni Association Board of Directors (2001-04) and was a member of the initial steering committee for ND Women Connect. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame in English and theology in 1982 and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Mullaney and her husband, Brian McMorrow, class of 1981, live in South Bend. 

The Dr. Thomas A. Dooley Award

Established in 1984, the Dr. Thomas A. Dooley Award, presented this year to Robert J. Dempsey, class of 1973, is conferred on a graduate who has exhibited outstanding service to humankind. 

Dempsey is the Manucher Javid Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Wisconsin, specializing in cranial neurosurgery of brain tumors, intracranial aneurysms, carotid endarterectomy and the repair of congenital brain stem disorders.

With a philosophy of “service through education,” Dempsey is committed to solving health disparities by training, equipping and mentoring generations of physicians in worldwide areas of need. The former president of the U.S. Society of Neurological Surgeons (SNS), he also chairs the Foundation for International Education in Neurological Surgery, where he established and supports more than 20 training programs in developing countries.

Dempsey has received the Humanitarian Award from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and distinguished service awards from the Neurological Society of America, the SNS and the University of Chicago Medical and Biological Sciences Alumni Association, denoting his lifetime commitment to science, mentoring, neurosurgical service and education nationally and internationally. In 2022, he received the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Medal of Honor, the highest award in neurosurgery.

In recognition of a lifetime of worldwide mentoring of resident and young faculty, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons have named its annual resident award the Robert J. Dempsey Research Award for Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery in his honor. 

The Dr. William P. Sexton Award

Established in 2001, the Dr. William P. Sexton Award, presented this year to Guiorgie “Gia” Kvaratskhelia, honors non-alumni of Notre Dame who have contributed outstanding service to the University and whose lives exemplify the spirit of the University.

Entering his 10th season at the helm of the Notre Dame fencing program, Kvaratskhelia has perhaps done more to rewrite the Fighting Irish record books than anyone who came before him. Just last month, he and the Irish captured the program’s 13th national championship — the fifth during his head coaching tenure — becoming the first team on campus to win three consecutive titles. In earning a fifth national title, he surpassed legendary football coach Frank Leahy, who previously held the Notre Dame record with four.

Since assuming the head coaching role ahead of the 2015 season, Kvaratskhelia has overseen 13 individual champions across all three weapons categories. He has also led the Irish to extraordinary success in conference competition, with the men’s and women’s squads claiming seven ACC Championships each. Irish fencers have won 43 out of a possible 54 individual conference weapons titles under his watch, and he has been named ACC Coach or Co-Coach of the Year a combined 10 times.

Kvaratskhelia — who became a United States citizen in 2004 — immigrated to the U.S. in 1994 from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. In 1993, he received his bachelor’s degree in physical education and sport from the Georgian State Physical Training Institute in his hometown of Tbilisi and earned a sports journalism certificate from the same institution in 1992. Kvaratskhelia and his wife, Dani Edson, have one daughter, Maya, and one son, Alexander.