The Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame has elected Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., as the University’s 18th president, effective July 1. He will succeed Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., who announced in October that he will step down at the end of the 2023-24 academic year after serving as president for 19 years.
“I am deeply humbled and honored by the Board’s decision,” Father Dowd said. “We can all be grateful for Father Jenkins’ selfless and courageous leadership for almost two decades. Working together with others, his efforts have positioned the University extremely well in every way. We will build on those efforts. Informed by our Catholic mission, we will work together so that Notre Dame is an ever-greater engine of insight, innovation and impact, addressing society’s greatest challenges and helping young people to realize their potential for good.”
Father Dowd currently serves as vice president and associate provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at Notre Dame, a position he has held since 2021. He is also an associate professor of political science and serves as a Fellow and Trustee of the University and religious superior of the Holy Cross community at Notre Dame.
A native of Michigan City, Indiana, Father Dowd graduated from Notre Dame in 1987, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology and economics, and entered Moreau Seminary in the fall of that year to explore his vocation to religious life and priesthood. During his time in the seminary, he asked to be assigned to East Africa and spent 18 months there. After professing final vows in the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1993 and being ordained a priest in 1994, he worked in Campus Ministry at Notre Dame, serving as associate rector of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and as an assistant rector in one of the University’s residence halls.
In his current role, Father Dowd oversees several institutes, centers and other academic units at Notre Dame, including the Center for Social Concerns, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, iNDustry Labs, Institute for Educational Initiatives, Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society, McGrath Institute for Church Life, Notre Dame Technology Ethics Center, Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, ROTC programs and the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art. He also directs the approval and review process of institutes and centers.
Over his 19-year tenure as president, Father Jenkins is credited with advancing Notre Dame’s mission as a Catholic research university; attracting and supporting superb faculty; fostering dramatic growth in research at the University; securing Notre Dame’s admission in the Association of American Universities; ensuring the University’s financial strength; admitting a talented, diverse student body; promoting continued excellence in undergraduate instruction; expanding Notre Dame’s global engagement; and offering students an in-person education during the COVID-19 pandemic. A longtime member of the Commission on Presidential Debates, he is recognized nationally as an advocate of civil discourse, and he is a leading voice on the future of college athletics.
