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Father Theodore M. Hesburgh Selected to Receive 2008 Paley Award

February 1, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     

CONTACT: Libby May, libby@naicu.edu

office: 202-739-0477   cell: 301-529-7313

Tony Pals, tony@naicu.edu

office: 202-739-0474   cell: 202-288-9333

WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 1— The Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, has been selected by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) to receive the 2008 Henry Paley Memorial Award.  He will receive the award with prerecorded remarks, from NAICU President David L. Warren on Tuesday, Feb.5, at the NAICU annual meeting.  The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.

Since 1985, the Paley Award has recognized an individual who, throughout his or her career, has unfailingly served the students and faculty of independent higher education.  The recipient of this award has set an example for all who would seek to advance educational opportunity in the United States.  The Paley Award is named for Henry Paley, president of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities of New York from 1975 until 1984.

One of the most influential figures in higher education in the 20th century, Hesburgh’s impact goes well beyond the 35 years he served as president of the University of Notre Dame.  Hesburgh’s global perspective and service have led to the creation of permanent academic centers on the University of Notre Dame campus to advance the causes he has taken on with such great passion, far into the future.  These include the Notre Dame Law School’s Center of Civil and Human Rights, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

“Father Hesburgh’s gift for constructing a world-changing vision and bringing it to fruition has inspired all of us in higher education, as well as countless others outside of the halls of academe,” said NAICU President David L. Warren “ NAICU is privileged to award him the 22nd annual Henry Paley Award.”

In 2000, Hesburgh became the first person from higher education to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, presented by President Clinton and leaders from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.  Earlier, he had received the Medal of Freedom from President Johnson in 1964.  He also holds more than 150 honorary degrees – the most ever awarded to one person. He continues to work daily in his retirement office in the Hesburgh Library on the Notre Dame campus.

NAICU serves as the unified national voice of independent higher education.  With nearly 1,000 member institutions and associations nationwide, NAICU reflects the diversity of private, nonprofit higher education in the United States.  NAICU members enroll 85 percent of all students attending private institutions.  They include traditional liberal arts colleges, major research universities, church- and faith-related institutions, historically black colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions, single-sex colleges, art institutions, two-year colleges, and schools of law, medicine, engineering, business, and other professions.
 

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