Physician, humanitarian and medical missionary Dr. Tom Catena will visit the University of Notre Dame on Nov. 12 (Wednesday) to deliver the 2025 Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture at 5 p.m. in the Eck Visitors Center Auditorium. Catena’s lecture, titled “Hope and Healing,” is also part of the 2025-26 Notre Dame Forum, which is organized around the theme “Cultivating Hope.”

Since its founding, the University of Notre Dame has sought to address the world’s most pressing challenges through scholarship, partnership and service. Responding to the growing urgency of environmental change requires precisely this kind of collaboration, bringing together universities, researchers and communities to create solutions that are just, sustainable and grounded in shared responsibility for our planet. This November, COP30 will convene in Belem, Brazil. Capitalizing on Notre Dame’s presence in São Paulo, Notre Dame Global and Notre Dame São Paulo will host a conference together with Notre Dame Research and the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership (NDDCEL), the week before the international climate summit.

Karen Imgrund Deak has been selected as executive director of the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame, where she has served in the interim role since September of 2024. She will lead the unit and oversee the roll out of its recent strategic reorganization. Deak brings to the role knowledge of developing partnerships at the IDEA Center, across the University, and beyond.

Kevin and Cynthia O’Brien of Dallas have made a significant gift to the University of Notre Dame to endow the O’Brien Notre Dame International Security Center, which provides a forum for scholars and students at the University of Notre Dame and elsewhere to explore the most pressing issues in national security policy.

The Coca-Cola Company in North America has awarded a $2.5 million gift to the University of Notre Dame’s Urban Poverty and Business Initiative (UPBI). The initiative brings together universities and nonprofit organizations committed to alleviating poverty and helping low-income and underprivileged individuals launch and grow sustainable businesses. The gift will enable UPBI, housed within the University’s Keough School of Global Affairs, to expand its network of partner organizations across the United States and into Canada, including cities that will host the FIFA World Cup 26.

The University of Notre Dame and Beacon Health System have announced a new, multiyear research collaboration. Through this agreement, Notre Dame and Beacon will jointly develop collaborative, health-focused research projects that are of interest to both organizations, particularly in the areas of oncology and health data.

Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., will join University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., for a conversation titled “Healing Our National Dialogue and Political Life” at 4 p.m. Friday (Oct. 17) in Room 215/216, McKenna Hall, as part of the 2025-26 Notre Dame Forum on the theme “Cultivating Hope.” This event is free and open to the public.

On Thursday (Oct. 9), Pope Leo XIV issued his first major document, “Dilexi Te” (“I Have Loved You”), addressed to all Christians and divided into five chapters. Below, experts from the University of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters, Keough School of Global Affairs, Institute for Social Concerns and the Institute for Educational Initiatives respond to the document.

The University of Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies and Vanderbilt University’s Center for Global Democracy are partnering to advance one of the world’s leading surveys on attitudes toward democracy. Starting in October, the Center for Global Democracy, with support from the Kellogg Institute, will conduct the 2025-26 round of the AmericasBarometer, which tracks public opinion on democracy in 20 countries across the Americas.

The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame announced that the late Wm. David Solomon, associate professor of philosophy emeritus and founding director of the center, has been named the recipient of the 15th annual Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal, the nation’s most important award for heroes of the pro-life movement. The medal will be presented to Solomon’s family at a special Mass and dinner May 1, 2026, at Notre Dame.

Francis and Kathleen Rooney of Washington, D.C., and Naples, Florida, have made a gift to the University of Notre Dame to endow an institute in the College of Arts & Letters committed to the preservation of American democracy through research, teaching and public engagement. The Rooney Democracy Institute, formerly known as the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy, aims to advance Notre Dame’s role as a national and global leader in democracy scholarship and as a convener of bipartisan conversations about the future of democracy.

The symptoms come on quickly — acute fever, followed by debilitating joint pain that can last for months. Though rarely fatal, the chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne illness, can be particularly severe for high-risk individuals, including newborns and older adults. While the virus is common…

Yenupini Joyce Adams, associate professor of the practice and maternal health lead for the Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame, is partnering with Beacon Health System to pilot a new, first-of-its-kind postpartum care model in the South Bend-Elkhart community.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the retired 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will join University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., for a fireside chat at 4 p.m. Friday (Oct. 10), as part of the 2025-26 Notre Dame Forum. The discussion, titled “Hope, Global Stability and the Role of the United States,” is part of the exploration of this year’s Notre Dame Forum theme, “Cultivating Hope.” It will take place in Rooms 215/216 of McKenna Hall and will also be livestreamed. The event is free and open to the public.

The University of Notre Dame has joined the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies after signing a memorandum of cooperation, formalized Sept. 24, at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York City. Notre Dame joined four other American institutions that were also publicly welcomed to the coalition at this event: Arizona State University, Columbia University, Manor College and the Shevchenko Scientific Society.

One year later, work on Inauguration Build 2024 is complete, offering shelter and so much more to five local families.

The Notre Dame Alumni Association announced its 2025 Domer Dozen cohort, honoring 12 graduates ages 32 and younger for excellence in their contributions in learning, service, faith and work — the core pillars of the association’s mission.