He is credited with transforming Notre Dame from a midwestern Catholic men’s institution known primarily for its football team into a co-educational university with an international academic reputation.
At one time, Hesburgh was rated by his peers as the most influential man in the nation in education and the third most influential in the country in religion. He was the only man listed twice in a survey of leaders in 14 prominent fields.
The Nation magazine once called him “the most influential cleric in America, and the only possible rival to Dr. Billy Graham as preacher to the nation.”
President of the university from 1952 to 1987, Hesburgh’s retirement ended the longest tenure among active chief executive officers of American institutions of higher education.
At the time of his death (Feb. 26, 2015), he was the oldest living Holy Cross priest in the United States.
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