Notre Dame has a long history of outstanding student-athletes being named to All-America teams. The University also has a tradition of honoring exceptional faculty on the football field each fall. At every home game, the provost honors a distinguished member of the faculty. These seven scholar-teachers have been chosen from across the disciplines for their transformative contributions to Notre Dame and beyond to make up the 2025 All-Faculty Team.

“We are proud to recognize this exceptional group of scholars and to share their research with the wide audience that gathers at Notre Dame during every home football game,” said John T. McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost. “Their outstanding efforts allow Notre Dame to advance its goal to become the leading global Catholic research university.”

Meet the team:

Lakshmi Iyer

Professor of Economics and Global Affairs in the College of Arts & Letters and the Keough School of Global Affairs, Director of the Building Inclusive Growth (BIG) Lab

Professor Iyer’s research explores the intersection of history, politics, and economics, with a strong focus on Asia. Her recent projects have explored whether post-colonial policies can change the long-run effects of historical institutions, when decentralization can improve education and health outcomes, and whether providing formal land rights can improve women’s economic participation.

At Notre Dame, Lakshmi is the academic director of the Building Inclusive Growth (BIG) Lab, which develops innovative, long-lasting solutions to help vulnerable populations in developing countries. Iyer’s work aligns with Notre Dame’s Poverty Initiative, a University-wide effort to create a world intolerant of poverty by expanding knowledge about how to solve it.

Learn more about Lakshmi Iyer

Paul Helquist

Professor of Chemistry

Professor Paul Helquist’s research involves several aspects of organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and biochemistry in a highly interdisciplinary setting with collaborators at several institutions in the United States and other countries. One of the many topics of his research has been the investigation of potential treatments for Niemann-Pick Type C disease, a rare, lethal hereditary disorder that most often affects young children and took the lives of three of Coach Ara Parseghian's grandchildren. This and other research topics, including antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs, have been based on the development of new methods for efficient production of new therapeutics in the laboratory.

His work aligns with the University's Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative.

Learn more about Paul Helquist

Ahmed Abbasi

Joe and Jane Giovanini Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations; Co-Director of the Human-centered Analytics Lab; and Director of the Ph.D. in Analytics at the Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business

Professor Ahmed Abbasi studies how machine learning can be used to understand people in order to design more effective AI-guided interventions. By better aligning security warnings, consumers and employees are five times less likely to fall for a phishing attack. Using messaging that better resonates, patients at risk of heart disease cancel fewer appointments. His work shows how AI can empower people to make more informed decisions. Abbasi’s work aligns with the University's new Data, AI, and Computing Initiative.

Learn more about Ahmed Abbasi

Natasha Lyandres

Librarian and Curator in the Rare Books and Special Collections Department, Hesburgh Libraries

Natasha Lyandres’s work centers on developing and stewarding library collections for East European studies and visual arts. She acquires rare and unique materials for the Hesburgh Libraries. By preserving these cultural records for researchers, current and future, she provides Notre Dame students with opportunities to engage directly with original sources, explore new ideas, deepen their understanding of the past, and reflect on their roles in shaping today's world.

Learn more about Natasha Lyandres

James Schmiedeler

Professor of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement & Inclusion in the College of Engineering

Professor James Schmiedeler’s research is about helping people get back on their feet. Whether due to amputation, spinal cord injury, or stroke, losing the ability to walk is life-altering. Thanks to exciting breakthroughs in robotics, transformative tools like powered prostheses and exoskeletons help patients to recover the ability to walk after such injuries. Schmiedeler’s lab works to make robotic devices operate more in sync with the user’s natural intentions with an aim to bring back as much mobility and freedom as possible so that walking feels like walking again.

Learn more about James Schmiedeler

Laura Knoppers

George N Shuster Professor of English Literature

Laura L. Knoppers’s primary research focus is on John Milton’s works and life in religious, political, and cultural context. Her area of study, 17th-century English literature, presents a world sharply different from present day. Yet it is also a world from which present day comes, raising questions about religion, science, global relations, politics, and gender that still resonate today. Knoppers was drawn to the 17th-century literary writer Milton by the intellectual challenge of his magisterial poetry and by its reach into philosophy, religion, politics, and social history.

Learn more about Laura Knoppers

Derek Muller

Professor of Law

Professor Derek Muller is a nationally recognized scholar in the field of election law. His research focuses on the role of states in the administration of federal elections, the constitutional contours of voting rights and election administration, the limits of judicial power in the domain of elections, and the Electoral College.

Muller’s research helps legislators improve current rules that govern elections, and it helps courts interpret those rules even when there are deeply contested elections. Inspired by an Election Law course he took at Notre Dame Law School, he started to delve into these issues and became fascinated by the rich, complex rules societies have that support elections.

Learn more about Derek Muller

Originally published by Emily Monacelli Guzman at provost.nd.edu on October 15, 2025.