Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame. Photo by Barbara Johnston, University of Notre Dame.

News Release

NOTRE DAME — The University of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees invites the public to join the historic celebration of the Inauguration of Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., the University’s 18th president.

A series of events will begin Thursday, Sept. 12, culminating with Father Dowd’s investiture ceremony Friday, Sept. 13. The community is welcome to attend several events over two days of celebration, including the Notre Dame Forum events on Thursday, Sept. 12 and the Convocation and investiture ceremony in the Purcell Pavilion on Friday, Sept. 13.

The Inauguration Notre Dame Forum on Thursday, Sept. 12, will include four “fireside chats” with distinguished leaders in global development, technology, philanthropy and foreign affairs. Each of the four conversations, open to the public, will take place in the Leighton Concert Hall of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

Since its establishment in 2005, the Notre Dame Forum has each year invited campus-wide dialogue about an issue of importance to the university, the nation and the world. This year’s theme, “What do we owe each other?” chosen by Father Dowd, invites reflection on our responsibilities to one another. In a world where ideological and cultural divisions seem to have deepened, the Forum aims to bring people together across differences to face the most pressing challenges of our times.

The Forum schedule on Thursday, Sept. 12 is as follows:

11 a.m. to noon: Arvind Krishna, chairman and CEO of IBM: “The Future of Responsible Tech”

Conversation partner: John Veihmeyer, former global chairman of KPMG and chair of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees

1-1:45 p.m.: Sanda Ojiambo, assistant secretary-general, CEO and executive director of the United Nations Global Compact: “Business as a Global Force for Good”

Conversation partner: Anne Thompson, chief environmental affairs correspondent for NBC News

2-3 p.m.: David Rockefeller Jr., philanthropist and environmentalist: “A Legacy of Giving Back”

Conversation partner: Jack Brennan, former CEO and chair of Vanguard and former chair of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees

3:15-4:15 p.m.: Adm. Chris Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Joe Donnelly, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and former U.S. senator: “Advancing Peace in a Fractured World”

Conversation partner: Father Dowd

Inauguration Day on Friday, Sept. 13,  commences at 10 a.m. with Father Dowd presiding at Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Mass will also be livestreamed.

Later in the day, the University’s Board of Trustees, Church dignitaries, distinguished guests from peer institutions and some Notre Dame faculty, staff and students will process from the Main Building to Purcell Pavilion for the Convocation and Inauguration Ceremony.

Father Dowd’s investiture will be the highlight of the convocation, which begins at 2:45 p.m. Several guests will offer remarks, including Veihmeyer, who will present the Presidential Medal and University Mace, symbolizing the office and its authority, to Father Dowd.

At the ceremony, Father Dowd will deliver his inaugural address and also receive a blessing from Presidents Emeriti Rev. Edward A. “Monk” Malloy, C.S.C., and Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

Following the Inauguration Ceremony, several private events will be held on campus for Father Dowd’s family, guests, faculty, staff and students.

In December 2023, the University’s Board of Trustees elected Father Dowd as Notre Dame’s 18th president, effective June 1.

A native of Michigan City, Indiana, Father Dowd graduated from Notre Dame in 1987, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology and economics, and entered Moreau Seminary in the fall of that year to explore his vocation to religious life and priesthood.

During his time in the seminary, he asked to be assigned to East Africa and spent 18 months there. After professing final vows in the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1993 and being ordained a priest in 1994, he worked in Campus Ministry at Notre Dame, serving as associate rector of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and as an assistant rector in one of the University’s residence halls.

He earned a Master of Arts in African studies in 1998 and a doctorate in political science in 2003, both from UCLA. In 2004, Father Dowd joined Notre Dame’s political science department as a member of the faculty.

Specializing in comparative politics, his research has focused on how Christian and Islamic religious communities affect support for democratic institutions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Prior to being elected president, Father Dowd served as vice president and associate provost for interdisciplinary initiatives, was a member of the President’s Leadership Council and oversaw several institutes, centers and other academic units. He also served as religious superior of the Holy Cross priests and brothers at Notre Dame.

Father Dowd was previously an assistant provost for internationalization with Notre Dame Global, where his primary responsibilities included overseeing the Dublin Global Gateway and Kylemore Abbey Global Centre in Ireland and the São Paulo Global Center in Brazil, and establishing an office in Nairobi, Kenya, to promote and support Notre Dame’s research and educational partnerships in Africa.

He is the founder of Notre Dame’s Ford Family Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity, which, in keeping with Catholic social teaching, is dedicated to forging community-engaged research partnerships in the Global South. He is a fellow of the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and the Nanovic Institute for European Studies in the University’s Keough School of Global Affairs.

Father Dowd’s research has focused on African politics, identity politics and religion and politics. His research has also explored the effects of religious beliefs and institutions on the integration of migrants/refugees in Europe and the effects of faith-based schools on citizenship and civic engagement in Africa. He is the author of the book “Christianity, Islam, and Liberal Democracy: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa.”

Since 2020, Father Dowd has served as a Fellow and Trustee of the University. He has also ministered to students on campus for many years as a priest-in-residence in Dillon, St. Edward’s and Cavanaugh Halls. Father Dowd also serves as a trustee of Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts, and a board member of Brother Andre Hospital in Nairobi.

As the University’s 18th president, Father Dowd is the fourth person to serve as president in the last 70 years. Father Dowd’s Presidential Inauguration is just the third in Notre Dame’s 182-year history, following those for Father Malloy in 1987 and Father Jenkins in 2005. Father Malloy’s was the first Notre Dame Presidential Inauguration as he was the first president elected by the University’s Trustees following the transference of governance in 1967 from the Congregation of Holy Cross to a predominantly lay board. Prior to that transition, the presidency was an assignment of the provincial superior under religious obedience.

More information about Father Dowd’s Inauguration is available online.