New Alumni Board Members
On July 1, the following alumni began three-year terms on the Alumni Board of Directors:
Young Alumni - Rob Holcomb '99, Sunnyvale, California; Region 3 - Holly Colman '86, Ventura, California; Region 4 - Patrick Reis '85, Minneapolis; Region 7 - Patrick McKeever
'61, Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan; Region 10 - Patrick Perrella '90, New York, New York;
Region 14 - Paul Christmann Jr. '89, New Orleans; Region 18 - Steve Hogan '86J.D., Saratoga
Springs, New York; International (Europe) - Pai Gee-Janssens '97; Black Alumni of ND -
James W. Riley Jr. '94.
Nussbaum elected
Richard Nussbaum '74, '79J.D., was voted president-elect of the Alumni Association by the
Alumni Board at its spring meeting.
Alumni Association Awards
The Rev. William Corby, CSC, Award will be presented to Captain Jack J. Samar Jr. '71 during
halftime of the ND-Army football game on November 18. As a naval flight officer assigned to
the USS Midway, he participated in the evacuation of Saigon. His second deployment, aboard the USS Ranger, was in response to the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. In 1982, he served as flag
aide/executive assistant to the vice director of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff with the
Joint Chiefs of Staff. Samar commanded the Navy A-6 Intruder squadron "Silver Foxes" and
was assigned to the USS Enterprise in 1989 and the USS Ranger in 1990. During Operation
Desert Storm he flew 41 nighttime strike missions in a period of 43 days. He later commanded
the USS LaSalle and was the first naval flight officer to command the aircraft carrier the USS
Kitty Hawk. Samar's honors include two Legion of Merit awards, two Distinguished Flying
Cross awards, the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, three Meritorious
Service Medals and Joint Service Commendation Medal.
The Harvey G. Foster Award will be awarded to Jerry Groom'51 and posthumously to
Jack Connor '50 at halftime of the ND-Purdue football game on September 30. Irish football
teammates under Frank Leahy, Groom and Connor founded the Leahy Scholarship program,
which includes the Frank Leahy Memorial Fund and the Frank Leahy/Creighton Miller Fund,
through which 26 students have received scholarships since 1997. Connor authored two books
recounting the Leahy years at Notre Dame: Leahy's Lads and Connor: The Life Story of George
Connor. After serving two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Connor became a special agent for
the FBI in Miami and New York. In 1960, he joined the investment banking firm of A.G. Becker
and at his retirement was a self-employed financial consultant. Groom was team captain of the
Fighting Irish in 1950 and a consensus All American. He continued his football career with the
Chicago Cardinals, with a Pro Bowl appearance in 1954, and was later inducted into the College
Football Hall of Fame. Groom was a broadcaster for Denver Broncos football before becoming a
vice president with Levi Strauss & Co. He helped spearhead the drive for the sculpture of Frank
Leahy, which was placed outside of Notre Dame stadium.
NDA Today
To subscribe to NDA Today, the Alumni Association's monthly electronic newsletter, send an
email to ndalumni@nd.edu with "Subscribe" in the subject line. Past issues of NDA Today can
be viewed at alumni.nd.edu/news_publ/ndatoday.html.
Excellence in Teaching
Keynote speaker at the Excellence in Teaching conference, October 27-29 will be Rev. Ronald
J. Nuzzi, director of the Alliance for Catholic Education Leadership Program, presenting "Can
Teachers Go to Heaven? Spirituality for Teachers." In "The Brain Rewired: Teaching at Its
Best" workshop, teacher/consultant Ann Anzalone will focus discussion on changes in student
learning styles as affected by cultural changes, and the importance of stress management, sleep,
nutrition, physical activity and active learning in the development of memory and focusing
skills. The conference is open to all teachers, principals or counselors from kindergarten through
high school. A participant does not need to be a Notre Dame graduate to attend. For more
information, call 800-849-3041 or visit alumni.nd.edu/cont_ed/eit.html.
Ethics and Culture Conference
The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture will hold its seventh annual fall conference
"Modernity: Yearning for the Infinite," November 30-December 2. Scholars from Catholic,
non-Catholic and secular institutions from varied academic fields will discuss the intellectual
epoch referred to as "modernity," the relationship between the main theses of modernity and the
Magisterium of the Church in the last century, and the impact of modernity upon work in
philosophy, theology, law, literature, the arts, and other fields of intellectual inquiry.
Consult ethicscenter.nd.edu for further details and online registration.
Travel with the Sextons
Hosts for the Treasures of Italy cruise, May 10-22, 2007, will be Ann and Bill Sexton, former
vice president for University Relations and current professor of management. Aboard the Oceania M.S. Insignia, travelers will embark from Venice and call on the ports of Dubrovnik,
Sicily, Capri, Portofino, Livorno, Sorrento and Corsica before concluding the voyage in Rome. For more information, call 800-634-2631 or visit alumni.nd.edu/travel/.
(July 2006)
