Welcome back from spring break, and to the home stretch of the academic year. Commencement is just a little more than two months away. 

I was fortunate to travel just before spring break to Manila, the Philippines, for the Notre Dame Alumni Association Asia Pacific regional meeting and to explore a partnership with De La Salle University. The Philippines has one of the fastest-growing economies worldwide. Manila, with a city-center population of nearly 15 million, is one of the world’s most densely populated.

Club leaders and representatives from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, India and the Philippines attended, along with Experiential Learning Director Megan Piersma and several other Alumni Association leaders including Executive Director Dolly Duffy. I gave a presentation to the alumni club leaders about the College’s strategic plan and had several meetings with regional leaders of Notre Dame International to explore collaboration. I also met with a few parents of Notre Dame students and met other alumni at social events.

As I mentioned, an important reason for Megan’s and my trip was to explore a partnership with De La Salle University (DLSU), a Catholic university founded in 1911 by the Christian Brothers whose main campus is in Manila. We discussed future collaborations with DLSU, including a potential immersion for the Global EMBA in Manila and an exchange program for our undergraduate students (with DLSU students coming to Notre Dame in the fall and spring semesters, and our students traveling to Manila perhaps as part of a summer program).

We also met five of our own MBA students in Manila! They were in the Philippines as part of the Meyer Business on the Frontlines program. Megan and I had dinner with leaders from World Vision, our Frontlines partner in the Philippines, along with the Frontlines student team and two alumni advisors. We had fantastic Chinese food, and I challenged myself to eat some new dishes including chicken feet, which are one of the most popular appetizers in Asia.​​ They tasted pretty good (as long as I didn’t think about what I was eating). 

One of our memorable outings was to Mount Pinatubo, an active volcano about 60 miles north of Manila. Pinatubo last erupted in 1991, killing 847 people. Megan and I got up at 1:45 a.m. to drive to the volcano so we could get our hike done before the heat of the day. (Daytime temperatures in Manila typically range in the 90s and it’s very humid.) It was a truly fantastic experience, and one that we could offer the more adventurous of the EMBA students.  

Manila is a fascinating, diverse, busy city with a rich heritage. As a booming metropolis, the energy, the noise, the craziness are off the charts. At the same time, people are easygoing, very friendly and welcoming. Somehow, it all works, even the completely crazy traffic. It's also a city of extremes. There's great wealth and extreme poverty right next to each other. As a vital part of the Asia Pacific region and with a large Catholic population, the Philippines is important for the University and College. I felt a strong American flavor to their culture, e.g., in how many people are wearing NBA jerseys and caps, and the songs on the radio in the cabs.

Hearing from alumni, many of whom are from Mendoza, about their gratitude for Notre Dame, was inspiring. They have learned that the Notre Dame ethos of leadership is about service, and service is about others and giving back. And that’s what they are doing. They attended the regional meeting to learn how they could be more effective in giving back, which is just wonderful to hear. Our strongest supporters are our alumni, and they expressed deep gratitude again for everything they have received from the University because of our staff and faculty.

I’m grateful to the Notre Dame Alumni Association and especially to Lea Barthuly, NDAA international program director, and to the Philippines Alumni Club leaders Guenevierre Panopio (BBA ‘11) and Jaime Urquijo for arranging the meeting. Thank you to Megan Piersma, Ryan Retartha and Reilly Fangman for their support in coordinating the trip, and especially to Megan for being such a fantastic fellow traveler. 

In Notre Dame,

Martijn

I’m pleased to announce that Ahmed Abbasi, the Joe and Jane Giovanini Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations, will be the speaker for the next University Chair Public Lecture on May 1. His talk in the Jordan Auditorium will start at 3 p.m. and will be followed by a reception. You should have received a calendar invite for his talk. I hope you can attend.

The University Chair Public Lecture Series was launched in fall 2023 to recognize the importance of the research contributions of our faculty. The series features Mendoza faculty who have been designated as University chairs – Notre Dame’s highest recognition of the impact of a faculty member’s research. The event is an opportunity to hear about their work and career, and to celebrate together how we are growing the good in business to contribute to human flourishing. (You can view the inaugural University Chair Public Lecture by Mike Crant here.)

Ahmed is the co-director of the Human-centered Analytics Lab (HAL), which seeks to better understand the human condition in the context of digital lives. He also serves as the academic director of the Ph.D. Program in Analytics. His research interests are related to text and predictive analytics, and include subjects such as the ethical use of generative AI. A prolific researcher with more than 9,300 citations, he has published more than 100 articles in journals and conferences, including over 40 articles in top-tier outlets such as MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of Marketing, IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, and ACM Transactions on Information Systems.

Ahmed’s research has received over a dozen individual and best paper awards. Recent research themes include analytics for social good, the role of AI in supporting public health, and the use of fair machine learning to better understand the human condition for enhanced decision making and policy outcomes. Ahmed also has generously served the profession in his roles as senior or associate editor for top journals such as INFORMS, ACM, IEEE, and AIS, having authored over 350 editorial reports and guest-edited special issues on various AI-related topics such as the role of the institutional press in the digital age, disaster response management, healthcare analytics, and trustworthy AI.   

His work has been funded by more than 15 grants from the National Science Foundation and industry partners such as Microsoft, eBay, Deloitte, and Oracle. Ahmed is a recipient of the IEEE Technical Achievement Award, INFORMS Design Science Award, and IBM Faculty Award. He also served as chair of the INFORMS College on AI. 

The inaugural University Chair Public Lecture by Mike Crant was a wonderful event, and I look forward to hearing from Ahmed. Please join us.

In Notre Dame,

Martijn

Survey says…community! 

Not just one survey response, but many survey responses say that one reason our students come to Notre Dame and enjoy their Mendoza experience is thanks to our community. That’s not likely to be surprising to anyone reading this column.

Highlighting our community hasn’t always been an easy task for the Mendoza Graduate Enrollment team over the past few years; we’ve had to be nimble and flexible in considering the mode of communication. We were successful in showcasing our community via Zoom during the pandemic. Since then, we’ve conducted a lot of one-on-one meetings and tours, and have gotten back on the road to meet students in their hometowns. 

Through it all, Mendoza faculty, staff and students have been there with us telling their stories. We can’t thank you enough for your time and partnership.

On Friday, the Graduate Enrollment team hosted our spring Domer for a Day. The event introduced 22 prospective graduate students (one even flew in from Los Angeles) to Mendoza through a day filled with activities including a campus tour, networking opportunities, and career development and application advice sessions with our team. For us, on-campus events like this are some of our favorite days. At the end of the day, our cheeks hurt from smiling, we see our colleagues in their element as they interact with prospective students, and most of all, we see our guests’ eyes light up after spending a day in our community.

The enrollment team’s goal is to invite more prospective students to get to know us, and to get to know you — the Mendoza community.  We want all of our guests to feel like they’re already part of our community, to feel like “Domers for a Day,” through opportunities such as a site visit, lunch with a current student or attending a guest lecture or event put on by a Mendoza department.

So whenever you see a Graduate Enrollment team member walking with someone in the halls and extolling the virtues of Grow Irish Week or snacks in the student lounge, please stop us to say hi. We’d love to introduce you to a potential member of our Mendoza community. 

Here’s to many more comments and survey shoutouts in the future!

Claire

Claire Fitzgibbon
Senior Director of Graduate Enrollment