Saint Mary's President Carol Ann Mooney and Sr. Joy O'Grady, president of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, jointly appointed Sr. Mary Louise Gude to join the Saint Mary's community as the new vice president for Mission.
The position for vice president to lead the Division for Mission became available after Sr. Rose Anne Schultz, the first vice president of the Division for Mission, announced her retirement this spring, according to a press release.
Gude was encouraged to apply for the position based on her experience with both the Saint Mary's and Notre Dame communities.
"Among other things, I spent eight months in Le Mans, [France] preparing to celebrate the beatification of Basil Moreau and help organize the summer C.S.C. history session in Le Mans," Gude said.
Gude said she is positive about her new position.
"My position is one of service to the college community. Saint Mary's has a rich heritage, and one facet of my job will be to nurture that heritage," Gude said. "This happens in many and varied ways, and I look forward to the challenge."
Gude said her responsibilities fall into three categories: to make the history and the mission of the Sisters of the Holy Cross known to the College community and to interpret its relevance today, to supervise those college departments explicitly charged with implementing that mission and to act as a liaison between the College's various constituencies in order to ensure mission effectiveness.
Gude graduated from Saint Mary's College in 1963. After earning a licentiate from the University of Montreal and a Ph.D. in French literature from the University of Pennsylvania, Gude returned to South Bend. She has served as an assistant vice president for Student Affairs and taught in the Department of Romance Languages at Notre Dame.
Gude has also served at Saint Mary's as an assistant professor of French and department chair.
