Theodore Hesburgh

Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. (1917–2015) was an American Catholic priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a leading figure in U.S. higher education. He served as president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987, guiding major academic expansion and raising the university’s national profile. Hesburgh was also prominent in public service, including work on civil rights: he served on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and was its chair. Known for his advocacy of racial justice and educational opportunity, he became one of the most recognizable Catholic educators of the twentieth century.