Notre Dame has created a new position to bolster its commitment to supporting local economic growth through partnerships and named the first office-holder, according to a University press release. Jack Curran will serve as associate vice president of new business development.
Curran is the former vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Textron Inc., a Fortune 500 company that owns and operates several subsidiaries including Bell Helicopter and the Cessna Aircraft Company.
His previous experiences with the Notre Dame community, Curran said, helped convince him to join as the associate vice president of new business development.
“My interest in deciding to accept the position was driven by the quality of the people I met, their desire to continually improve the University and the exciting goals that have been established to enhance both the University and the community,” Curran said in an email.
Explaining the nature of his new role, Curran said his main responsibility is to help the local community around Notre Dame continue to grow through strategic partnerships.
“Through partnerships, alliances and similar arrangements, the resources and capabilities of Notre Dame can be combined with the strengths of other parties to benefit the regional community, the University and the other parties,” Curran said.
The University has a strong interest in the economic health of the local community given that it relies on it for a large number of employees, Curran said.
“The more successful and appealing the region, the more successful Notre Dame will be in continuing to attract and retain world class talent,” he said.
Curran said his extensive experience in the private sector gives him a strong perspective and useful skills that will allow him to succeed as associate vice president of new business development.
“I worked for a company that has a number of businesses. Although those businesses operate in different fields than the ones Notre Dame addresses, there is the similarity of needing to understand different businesses and trying to find areas where different businesses can work together and share capabilities,” Curran said.
Additionally, Curran said his work at Notre Dame will involve creating teams for specific functions and projects, a process he has done many times at Textron.
“Although multi-functional teams currently are being used at Notre Dame, my role is to bring more focus to the process and increase the number of projects that can be considered and completed,” Curran said.
As he enters into his new role, Curran said his top priorities include meeting with a variety of Notre Dame employees, potential partners and community leaders, improving his own understanding of Notre Dame’s capabilities and focusing on creating successful partnerships.
