In August 2017, Notre Dame will open the Donald R. Keough School of Global Affairs — its first new college or school since the Mendoza College of Business was founded in 1921.
A University press release issued Wednesday said the school was made possible by $50 million donated by Donald and Marilyn Keough and will be housed in Jenkins Hall, a building named for University President Fr. John Jenkins to be constructed beginning in spring 2015 on Notre Dame Ave. south of the Hesburgh Center for International Studies.
According to the press release, “the school will conduct research on critical issues of international development, peace, human rights and governance; offer a master’s degree in global affairs and support a range of innovative dual-degree programs and undergraduate programs to enhance students’ preparation for leadership in an increasingly interconnected world.”
Current professor of history R. Scott Appleby will serve as the school’s inaugural Marilyn Keough Dean, the press release stated.
The Keough School will include many already-existing international units, including the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies, the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, the Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and the Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development.
Donald Keough is chairman of the board of investment banking firm Allen & Company Inc. after retiring as president and chief operating officer of The Coca-Cola Company in 1993.
According to the press release, the Keoughs’ contributions have also led to the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies, two endowed chairs in Irish studies, a summer internship program for Notre Dame students in Ireland, Malloy Hall, three library collections, the restoration of O’Connell House in Dublin, the Keough-Hesburgh Professorships for scholars who demonstrate a commitment to Notre Dame’s Catholic mission and the Keough Hall men’s residence.
“Through the Keough School, Notre Dame will prepare students for effective and ethically grounded professional leadership in government, the private sector and global civil society, engaging them in the worldwide effort to address the greatest challenges of our century: threats to security and human dignity that come in the form of crushing poverty and underdevelopment; failed governance and corruption; resource wars; civil wars; and other forms of political violence and human rights violations,” Jenkins said in the press release.
