On Oct. 9, two press releases announced two multi-million dollar donations to the University.
Pat and Jana Eilers have donated $3 million to endow the football team’s defensive backs coaching position, and alumni James Parsons and Carrie Quinn have made a $20 million donation to establish a new Institute for Global Investing within the Mendoza College of Business, according to the releases.
Jack Swarbrick, University vice president and the director of athletics, praised the Eilers for their continuing generosity to Notre Dame.
“This extraordinary gift is just one of many ways in which Pat and Jana continue to give back to Notre Dame. I have not met anyone who believes more strongly in value of intercollegiate athletics and the role it can play in educating young people; we are very fortunate to count Pat and Jana among the members of the Notre Dame family,” Swarbrick said in the release.
This is the first endowed assistant coach position at the University, the release stated. In June, the University announced gifts from alumnus Richard Corbett that endowed the head football coaching position.
Pat Eilers is a member of the 1988 national football championship team, the release stated.
"Last year, Eilers took a sabbatical from his work as managing director of Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP), a Chicago-based private equity firm, to serve as defensive quality control assistant for the Fighting Irish in order to support Kelly’s staff while defensive graduate assistant coach Kyle McCarthy was on a medical leave," the release stated.
Of Parsons and Quinn's donation, Roger D. Huang, Martin J. Gillen Dean of the Mendoza College of Business, said it would supplement and improve existing educational opportunities for students, faculty and alumni.
Huang said in the release he believes the institute “provides that vital nexus for research, the classroom, our alumni and other partners so that we can leverage all of it for a greater impact than the sum of its parts. ... I’m confident that the institute will enable us to expand opportunities for our stakeholders — especially for our students — and become a significant thought leader in the global investment community.”
The institute will employ expertise of the finance faculty, the finance curriculum and partnerships to “form a platform for both learning and influencing the way investment managers the world over think about global finance,” the release stated.
According to the press release, Parsons and Quinn received their undergraduate degrees from the University. Parsons received an MBA from Harvard Business School and is founder and portfolio manager for Junto Capital Management in New York City. Quinn graduated from Tufts University Medical School and is currently an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital and executive director of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center.
