Notre Dame's Economic Impact
on South Bend

A History of Working Together:
Notre Dame and the Community

In 1842, the civic leaders of a small but growing village on the St. Joseph River welcomed Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., a French priest whose aspirations were as ambitious as their own. The priest envisioned a great educational institution on the river's opposite bank.

While pioneers such as Alexis Coquillard, Henry and Clement Studebaker, Schuyler Colfax, and James Oliver forged an agricultural and manufacturing center that would become known around the world, Father Sorin and his successors employed the minds and energies of men and women religious to build a self-supported Catholic university.

Today, the University of Notre Dame and the South Bend community work together as pioneers in a post-manufacturing era that also calls for leadership, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit. Internationally respected as a Catholic institution of higher education, Notre Dame is Michiana's largest employer and a significant economic generator.

University President Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., predicts, "We see a future in which the benefits of a world-class Catholic research institution are fully integrated in the community."


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