Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.
Father Hesburgh’s stature as an elder statesman in American higher education is reflected in his 150 honorary degrees, the most ever awarded to one person. He has held 16 presidential appointments, involving him in virtually all major social issues— civil rights, peaceful uses of atomic energy, campus unrest, treatment of Vietnam offenders, and Third World development and immigration reform, to name only a few. Father Hesburgh was a charter member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, created in 1957, and he chaired the commission from 1969 to 1972, when President Nixon replaced him as chairman because of his criticism of the administration’s civil rights record. He was the first priest elected to the Board of Overseers at Harvard University and served two years (1994-95) as president of the board. He also co-chaired from 1990 to 1996 the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, an influential advocate for reforms in college sports. In July 2000, Father Hesburgh’s public service career was recognized when he became the first person from higher education to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Father Hesburgh was educated at Notre Dame and the Gregorian University in Rome, from which he received a bachelor of philosophy degree in 1939. He joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1945, and in 1949 was appointed executive vice president in the administration of Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, C.S.C., University president. At the age of 35 in June 1952, Father Hesburgh was named the 15th president of Notre Dame. He stepped down as Notre Dame’s leader on June 1, 1987, ending the longest tenure at that time among active presidents of American colleges and universities.
Read more about Father Hesburgh’s extraordinary accomplishments here.
The Yusko Family
Mark and Stacey Yusko established The Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program in 2009 with a $35 million gift. By creating the Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program, the couple hopes to equip extraordinary undergraduate students with the tools to become transformational leaders in the image of Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.
Mark Yusko is the founder, president and chief investment officer of Morgan Creek Capital Management, a registered investment adviser that provides investment management and advisory services based on the university endowment model of investing to wealthy families, individuals and institutional investors. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Notre Dame in 1985 and a master of business administration degree in accounting and finance from the University of Chicago.
Prior to founding Morgan Creek Capital Management in 2004, Mark Yusko served for six years as president and chief investment officer of UNC Management Company, the endowment investment office for The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 1993 to 1998 he was a senior investment director at Notre Dame. He is a director of Carolina Meadows, the Weaver Foundation and MCNC, a not-for-profit organization that advances education, innovation and economic development in North Carolina.
Stacey Yusko is the director of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Meals on Wheels program and a member of Notre Dame’s advisory council for the College of Arts and Letters. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Notre Dame in 1986 and a master’s degree in library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is active in local service and education programs in their community and is a director of the Morgan Creek Foundation, the North Carolina Museum of Art and Carolina Performing Arts.
The couple also has established endowments supporting academic enrichment at Notre Dame, with a focus on the Department of English and the Ward-Phillips Lecture Series, and on faculty hiring support programs within the Office of the Provost.
