Gen. Bryan P. Fenton named 2023 Rev. William Corby, C.S.C., Award recipient
The University of Notre Dame Alumni Association has named alumnus Gen. Bryan P. Fenton as the winner of the 2023 Rev. William Corby, C.S.C., Award. The honor was presented on Saturday (Sept. 23) during the Ohio State home football weekend.
One of the Alumni Association’s most prestigious honors, the Corby Award is bestowed upon Notre Dame graduates who have distinguished themselves in military service. The award is named for the University’s third president, who served as chaplain of the Irish Brigade during the U.S. Civil War.
A four-star officer, Fenton currently serves as the 13th commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. USSOCOM is the unified combatant command that oversees all special operations, including the special operations component commands of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, for the U.S. Department of Defense.
“The Corby Award is one manifestation of how Notre Dame highlights and reaffirms the value of service — in any form — to your community, our nation and the world,” Fenton said. “The legacy of ‘God, Country, Notre Dame’ and ‘What would you fight for?’ is felt all over this campus, by ND students, faculty and alumni. I am honored to be associated with this award and the legacy of service it represents.”
Prior to assuming command of USSOCOM, Fenton served as the commander of Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. Fenton’s other assignments as general officer include senior military assistant to the U.S. secretary of defense; deputy commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; commander, Special Operations Command Pacific; and deputy commanding general — Operations, 25th Infantry Division.
Fenton deployed multiple times to Afghanistan and Iraq and participated in operations in Bosnia, Somalia, Yemen, the Philippines and Colombia. He served in multiple military combatant commands including U.S. Southern Command, U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Central Command and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
A graduate of the class of 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Fenton was also a senior manager assistant to former Notre Dame football head coach Lou Holtz, and in 2017 was the recipient of the Monogram Club's Edward “Moose” Krause Distinguished Service Award. He holds a master’s degree from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and was the 2009 Army Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Fenton and his wife, Dawn, have two daughters, both cadets of the Notre Dame Army ROTC program: Nora (class of 2021) and Cecelia (class of 2024).
Latest ND NewsWire
- Philanthropy students award $59,000 to local nonprofitsPhilanthropy and the Common Good students awarded a combined $59,000 to five local nonprofits during an event Tuesday (Nov. 28) at McKenna Hall at the University of Notre Dame.
- In memoriam: Isabel Charles, assistant provost emerita, first woman appointed dean at Notre DameMarie Isabel Charles, assistant provost emerita and former director of international studies at the University of Notre Dame, died Sunday (Nov. 26). She was 97. Charles joined the University faculty as an associate professor of English and assistant dean in the College of Arts and Letters in 1973. She became dean of the college in 1976 and was the first woman appointed as dean or assistant dean at Notre Dame.
- New Raclin Murphy Museum of Art opens Dec. 1A new gateway to the University of Notre Dame continues the University’s long legacy of commitment to the arts. Welcoming visitors from across the country, the new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art opens its doors to the public Friday (Dec. 1). The new 70,000-square-foot building on the northeast corner of Eddy Street and Angela Boulevard is designed by the award-winning firm Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA). Recognized as a leader in classical-inspired architecture, RAMSA has designed an expanded home for the University’s robust art collections that honors both tradition and innovation. The building’s brick, cast stone and Indiana limestone exterior blends with other historic buildings on campus. The new museum, occupying a prominent intersection where the University’s campus meets the greater community, will anchor and function as a gateway to an expanding on-campus arts district.…
- ND-GAIN to launch Global Urban Climate Assessment, measuring climate resiliency at the city levelBuilding on its pioneering Country Index, which ranks climate vulnerability and readiness across more than 180 countries, the University of Notre Dame’s Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) will soon begin tracking the progress of such efforts in cities around the world. Based on evolving climate vulnerability and adaptation research, the Global Urban Climate Assessment (GUCA) aims to develop a pilot decision-support tool to inform actions and investments in urban areas.
- de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture co-sponsors conference on legacy of Pope Benedict XVIThe de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, in partnership with the Ratzinger Foundation and the Benedict XVI Institute, is hosting a series of academic panels discussing “Benedict XVI’s Legacy: Unfinished Debates on Faith, Culture, and Politics,” with the first event to be held Wednesday (Nov. 29) at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
- For Ashlee Bird, Native American video game designer, better representation on screen fosters brighter futureIn her undergraduate course Decolonizing Gaming, Ashlee Bird, an assistant professor of American studies, asks students to consider how video games teach players to behave within digital worlds and to examine colonial narratives around violence, race, gender, sexuality and relationship to the land.