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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

LeMay succumbs to cancer

Albert LeMay, a long-time member of the Notre Dame faculty, died Dec. 10 in Memorial Hospital after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 67.LeMay was a professor of English and directed the undergraduate foreign study program in Puebla, Mexico until May 2003. He also served as the program coordinator for the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies until 1999 and was actively involved with the South Bend Housing Authority for a number of years."He was an extraordinary person and one of the most generous and caring people I have ever known," said Scott Mainwaring, director of the Kellogg Institute and friend of LeMay for nearly 20 years.LeMay's position at the Kellogg Institute provided him with an opportunity to work closely with visiting national and international fellows, predominantly from the United States and Latin America. He also worked with guest scholars and graduate students affiliated with the program.LeMay's popularity within the Institute earned him the nickname "Mr. Kellogg" among colleagues. The Albert H. LeMay Undergraduate Summer Research Grant was established in October of 2002 in his honor.Mainwaring attributed LeMay's success at the Institute and in teaching to his enthusiasm and interest in students. "I think he was passionately committed to Notre Dame, and his students loved him," he said.LeMay was born in Woonsocket, R.I., in 1936. He graduated from Providence College in 1959 and went on to earn a master's degree from Middlebury College in 1960 and a Ph.D from Indiana University in 1971. In addition to Notre Dame, LeMay also taught at Saint Mary's and Colgate University.A Mass of the Resurrection was held on Dec. 13 at Saint Mary's Church of Loretto, and a memorial service at Notre Dame is tentatively planned for late January.LeMay is survived by his wife Marcia and three children.