University of Notre Dame history

The college awarded its first degrees in 1849.

Construction began on May 17, and by the incredible zeal of administrators and workers, the third and current Main Building was completed before the fall semester of 1879.

During their tenures at Notre Dame, they brought many refugees and intellectuals to campus; such as W. B. Yeats, Frank H. Spearman, Jeremiah D. M. Ford, Irvin Abell, and Josephine Brownson for the Laetare Medal, instituted in 1883.

After the death of Sorin in 1893, Father John A. Zahm, a brilliant scholar, joined the university.

By 1900, student enrollment had increased to over 700, with most students still following the Commercial Course.

Knute Rockne became head coach in 1918.

James A. Burns became president in 1919 and, following in the footsteps of Cavanaugh, he oversaw an academic revolution that brought the school up to national standards by adopting the elective system and moving away from the traditional scholastic and classical emphasis in three years.

By 1921, with the addition of the College of Commerce, Notre Dame had grown from a small college to a university with five colleges and a law school.

Ibid.; “May 17 — November 8,” Fiery Cross, November 21, 1924, 6, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles.

Eckersall, 37. “Rose Tournament Throng Sets Record,” Pasadena Evening Post, January 1, 1925, 1, accessed Newspapers.com. [38-40] Burns, 368. “Football,” Notre Dame Alumnus, 106-07.

The last game Rockne coached was on December 14, 1930, when he led a group of Notre Dame all-stars against the New York Giants in New York City.

Under the presidency (1952–87) of the Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, the faculty and student body increased in number and the university’s physical facilities and academic programs were greatly expanded.

In 1971, Mary Ann Proctor, a transfer from St Mary's, became the first female undergraduate.

Formerly a men’s university, it became coeducational in 1972.

For his work in religion, economics, and cultural criticism, he won the 1994 Templeton Prize from the Templeton Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes research concerning the interaction of religion and the sciences and humanities.

The University had accomplished much throughout its history but, as a living institution, it had no plans to stop when Father Malloy left office in 2005.