61 Facts About Theodore Hesburgh

Rev Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC was an American Catholic priest and academic who was a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Theodore Hesburgh is best known for his service as the president of the University of Notre Dame for thirty-five years.

Theodore Hesburgh received numerous honors and awards for his service, most notably the United States's Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal.

Theodore Hesburgh is credited with bringing Notre Dame, long known for its football program, to the forefront of American Catholic universities and its transition to a nationally respected institution of higher education.

Theodore Hesburgh supervised the university's dramatic growth, as well as the successful transfer of its ownership from Holy Cross priests to the Notre Dame board of trustees in 1967.

Theodore Hesburgh was active on the boards of numerous businesses, nonprofits, civic organizations, and Vatican missions.

Theodore Hesburgh's father was of German ancestry; his mother's family was of Irish descent.

Young Theodore Hesburgh was the second child and oldest son in a family of five children that included two boys and three girls.

Theodore Hesburgh attended Most Holy Rosary, a parochial school in Syracuse, and served as an altar boy.

Theodore Hesburgh claimed that he had wished to become a priest since the age of six.

Theodore Hesburgh graduated from Most Holy Rosary High School in Syracuse in 1934 and enrolled in the Holy Cross Seminary at Notre Dame in the fall.

Theodore Hesburgh spent three years studying theology at Holy Cross College and two years at The Catholic University of America, where he earned a doctorate in sacred theology in 1945.

On June 24,1943, Theodore Hesburgh was ordained a priest for the Congregation of Holy Cross at Notre Dame's Sacred Heart Church.

Theodore Hesburgh ran a large United Service Organization club in a Knights of Columbus hall in Washington, DC Although Hesburgh expressed an interest in serving as a chaplain in the US Navy during World War II, he returned to Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1945, after completion of his studies in Washington, DC, to begin a teaching career at the university.

Theodore Hesburgh joined the Notre Dame faculty as an instructor in the university's Department of Religion in 1945.

Three years later, at the age of thirty-five, Theodore Hesburgh succeeded Cavanaugh as president.

Theodore Hesburgh served as Notre Dame's president for thirty-five years, from 1952 until his retirement in 1987.

Theodore Hesburgh supervised dramatic growth at the university and expansion of its endowment, as well as its transition to a coeducational institution which occurred in 1972.

Theodore Hesburgh played a key role in developing the Land O'Lakes Statement that North American representatives of the International Federation of Catholic Universities issued in 1967.

In 1967, Theodore Hesburgh ended the university's exclusive, century-long leadership by the Congregation of Holy Cross clergy.

On February 17,1969, Theodore Hesburgh took a controversial position in dealing with anti-Vietnam War student activism on campus when he issued an eight-page letter to the student body outlining the university's stance on protests.

Theodore Hesburgh's letter stated that student protesters who violated the rights of others or disrupted the school's operations would be given fifteen minutes to cease and desist before facing suspension, or expulsion if they refused to disperse.

At President Nixon's request, Theodore Hesburgh offered advice to Vice President Spiro Agnew in a letter written on February 27,1969, that included suggestions for potential actions that could be taken to control the violence on college campuses.

Theodore Hesburgh argued that university and college administrations should be allowed to continue to decide the appropriate action to take on their respective campuses.

In October 1969, Theodore Hesburgh publicly expressed his opposition to the war by signing a letter with other college presidents calling for withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam and was present at an on-campus peace Mass with 2,500 Notre Dame students the following day.

Theodore Hesburgh persuaded the university's trustees to lift their forty-year ban on participation in postseason football games and used revenue generated from Notre Dame's bowl game appearances to fund minority scholarships.

In early May 1970, after learning of rumors that a group of students and antiwar activists planned to firebomb the Notre Dame campus's Reserve Officers' Training Corps building, Theodore Hesburgh responded with a public statement on May 4.

Theodore Hesburgh continued to respond to student concerns during the 1970s and 1980s.

Theodore Hesburgh's career included many civic activities, as well as American and international initiatives beyond his work at Notre Dame.

Theodore Hesburgh estimated he spent about 40 percent of his time off-campus and believed that his civic involvement "enriched" his priesthood.

Theodore Hesburgh emerged as a civil rights advocate and spokesperson for the commission.

In 1961 Hesburgh persuaded the Indiana Conference of Higher Education to support a Notre Dame-based pilot project for President John F Kennedy's new Peace Corps initiative that trained new volunteers for service in Chile, but he felt that the Kennedy administration had a poor record on civil rights issues.

In contrast to his assessment of the Kennedy administration's civil rights efforts, Hesburgh praised Lyndon B Johnson's work to secure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the US Congress and his courage for supporting the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Theodore Hesburgh made public appearances to show his support for the civil rights movement.

On July 21,1964, Theodore Hesburgh delivered an impromptu speech during Martin Luther King Jr.

Theodore Hesburgh served as chairman of the US Civil Rights Commission from 1969, when President Nixon appointed him to the leadership position, until 1972, when White House aides asked for Theodore Hesburgh's resignation.

Theodore Hesburgh objected to the president's slowdown policy on school desegregation, opposed Nixon's anti-busing policy, and advocated for the renewal of the Voting Rights Act, which the Nixon administration wanted to amend.

Theodore Hesburgh publicly explained that he believed the primary reason for his dismissal was due to the commission's report on minority employment in government.

Theodore Hesburgh served as a permanent Holy See representative from 1956 to 1970 to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria.

Theodore Hesburgh traveled the world on behalf of the university and the organizations he served.

Theodore Hesburgh served as a member of the International Federation of Catholic Universities, and as its president from 1963 to 1970; a board member and eventual president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities; a board member of the American Council on Education; and a board member of the Institute of International Education, among other education-related groups.

In 1990, during his retirement years, Theodore Hesburgh became the first priest to be elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers, and served from 1994 to 1996 as the board's president.

Theodore Hesburgh served as co-chairman of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics that made significant revisions to the regulation of American collegiate sports.

Theodore Hesburgh served with the Midwestern Universities Research Association and the Nutrition Foundation Board.

Theodore Hesburgh was a board member of numerous business and civic organizations.

Theodore Hesburgh served as a director for the Chase Manhattan Bank and a member of the advisory board of People for the American Way, among many other organizations.

Theodore Hesburgh kept busy in his retirement years, which included time to relax at the Holy Cross property at Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin.

Theodore Hesburgh wrote regularly, including a second book, Travels with Ted and Ned, which received mixed reviews, and edited The Challenge and Promise of a Catholic University, a collection of essays on Catholic higher education.

Theodore Hesburgh continued to deliver speeches and lectures, as well as serving on numerous boards and committees, including his controversial decision in 1994 to co-chair the legal defense fund for President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton with former US Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach.

Theodore Hesburgh was especially active in the development of five institutions he organized: the Ecumenical Institute for Theology Studies at Tantur, Jerusalem; Notre Dame's Center for Civil and Human Rights; the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies; the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies; and the Hank Family Environmental Research Center.

Theodore Hesburgh died on February 26,2015, at the age of 97.

Theodore Hesburgh's papers are housed in the Archives of the University of Notre Dame.

Theodore Hesburgh, one of the country's "most respected clergyman," was a strong supporter of interfaith dialogue.

Theodore Hesburgh brought a Catholic perspective to the numerous government commissions, civic initiatives, and other projects in which he was involved.

Theodore Hesburgh remained an activist for most of his adult life, especially in the area of civil rights and equality.

Theodore Hesburgh played a significant role in national affairs, beginning in the mid-twentieth century, and became well known for his liberal point of view, which was based on concepts of freedom and autonomy.

Theodore Hesburgh supported the peaceful use of atomic energy, aid to developing Third World countries, and civil rights and equality.

Theodore Hesburgh used his skills as a leader to forge strong alliances, even with those who held different political philosophies.

Theodore Hesburgh received numerous honors and awards for his public service.

In 2000, Theodore Hesburgh was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the first person from higher education to receive the honor.

Theodore Hesburgh is the recipient of more than 150 honorary degrees.