A Conversation with Reverend Theodore Hesburgh: Building a World Class University

Abstract

Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. is the President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame stepping down in 1987, after 35 years at the helm. Father Hesburgh served the University of Notre Dame well, building the academic quality of the university from a modest position to one of a national reputation in scholarship and quality of instruction. At 82 years of age, he still is active throughout the world in striving for world peace and justice. He is also active at Notre Dame in serving as an inspiration providing counsel and religious strength to the community of faculty and students. Father Hesburgh was born in Syracuse, New York on May 25, 1917. He attended the University of Notre Dame from 1934-1937. He then attended Gregorian University in Rome from 1937-1940, where he received a bachelor of philosophy degree. He was ordained a priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross College in 1943. Following his ordination, Father Hesburgh continued his study of scared theology at the Catholic University of America receiving a Doctor of Theology in 1945. Father Hesburgh was an assistant professor of religion at Notre Dame from 1945-1948, and was the chairman of the department from 1948-1949. In 1949, he became the executive vice president of Notre Dame until 1952, when he became the 15th President of the University. He held that position until 1987. He has held 15 presidential appointments over the years most recently for the United States Institute for Peace. At the same time, he remained a national leader in the field of education, serving on many commissions and study groups. As chairman of the International Federation of Catholic Universities from 1963-1970, Father Hesburgh led a movement to redefine the nature and mission of the contemporary Catholic university. His stature as an elder statesman in American higher education is reflected in his 141 honorary degrees, the most ever awarded to a single person. Highlighting a lengthy list of awards to Father Hesburgh is the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, bestowed on him by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and on the 10th of July, 2000, he will receive the Congressional Gold Medal. Father Hesburgh has served as the first Catholic Priest to serve as a director of the Chase Manhattan Bank and a trustee (later chairman) of the Rockefeller Foundation. His appointment as ambassador to the 1979 United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development was the first time a priest had served in a formal diplomatic role for the United States government. He was the first priest elected to the Board of Overseers at Harvard University being chosen as President in 1994 and 1995. In 1990-1996, he co-chaired the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, studying the need for reform of college sports. I served under Father Hesburgh from 1977-1984 and was very impressed with the quality of leadership he displayed. It is an honor to spend time with a legend and get a better understanding how he worked to improve the academic quality of the University of Notre Dame and worked to promote social justice and world peace. I hope this interview will provide you some insights into a man that has typified quality leadership over four decades. K.T.: Father Hesburgh, how would you describe your leadership philosophy? FATHER HESBURGH: My leadership philosophy is that leadership is more than just management. A person can come to a company or a university and manage it very well for 10 years. And when your 10 years are up, the organization has gone 10 years with no revolutions and no big failures of any kind, but no greatness either. It seems to me that the first thing a leader needs more than anything else is vision. He has to know let's say, where this institution is to go. He wants to know what it is to be. I gave a talk, I remember, at the beginning of being President and I said we had a mediocre faculty, we had a criminal budget given what we were purporting to do (like $7 million a year). …