For
forty years, Father Theodore Hesburgh, Catholic priest and President
Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, was in the national
spotlight for his advocacy of progressive values for change. Father
Hesburgh was a founding member of the Civil Rights Commission
when he was appointed by President Eisenhower in 1957. He served
until 1972 when President Nixon removed him after frequent disagreements
with the president over the Commission's findings. During that
time Father Hesburgh was an outspoken advocate for the civil rights
movement and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1964.
Father Ted had 16 presidential appointments, beginning in 1954
when he was appointed by President Eisenhower to the National
Science Board. Father Hesburgh stepped down from his position
as president of the University of Notre Dame after 35 years, becoming
the nation's longest-tenured president. He was featured on the
cover of Time Magazine in 1962. Putting his worldview into
practice as President of the University of Notre Dame, he brought
about many progressive changes to the university - he drastically
increased greater diversity in the workforce at Notre Dame in
1967 and accepted female students into the school for the first
time in 1972. Nationally, he was an influential voice in politics,
progressive social change and matters in the Catholic Church.
He was one of the founders of People For the American Way, a national
progressive advocacy group, and a strong supporter of the Genocide
Intervention Network, working to protect civilians around the
world from atrocities. Father Hesburgh has received a Guinness
Book record 150 honorary degrees and numerous prestigious awards
and honors. Among them is the nation's highest civilian honor,
the Congressional Gold Medal, which he received in 1999 for "his
outstanding and enduring contributions to civil rights, higher
education, the Catholic Church, the nation, and the global community."
