Thomas E. Walsh
{{Short description|Irish-Canadian Catholic priest}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Reverend
| honorific-suffix = C.S.C.
| name = Thomas E. Walsh
| title = President of the
University of Notre Dame
| image = Thomas E Walsh.jpg
| order = 6th
| term_start = 1881
| term_end = 1893
| predecessor = William Corby
| successor = Andrew Morrissey
| birth_date = {{birth date|1853|5|15}}
| birth_place = Lacolle, Quebec, Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age|1893|7|17|1853|5|15}}
| death_place =
| resting_place = Holy Cross Cemetery, Notre Dame, Indiana
| alma_mater =
}}
Thomas Edward Walsh, C.S.C. was an Irish-Canadian Catholic priest who served as president of the University of Notre Dame from 1881 to 1893.
Early life and education
Walsh was born one of nine in Lacolle, Quebec, son of Thomas Walsh and Winifred McDermott. He was educated at the College de Saint-Laurent, where he caught the attention of Fr Edward Sorin, who saw his potential. He finished his studies there in 1872 and entered the Novitiate. Sorin sent him to study at College de Ste. Croix in Neuilly, close to Paris, where he spent three years.
Service at Notre Dame
He was recalled to Notre Dame in 1876 in order to improve enrollment. He was ordained a priest on August 29, 1877, by Bishop Joseph Dwenger of Fort Wayne and then assumed the role of dean of students. After the great fire of 1879, Walsh was in charge of rescheduling classes and professors in the newly reopened college, and his administrative ability led Sorin and William Corby to pick him as next president in 1881.{{cite book |title=Catholic higher education in the 1960s : issues of identity, issues of governance |date=October 2009 |publisher=Information Age Pub |isbn=9781607523420 |pages=103}}
= President =
As president, Walsh interest was in bolstering Notre Dame's scholastic reputation and standards. At the time, many students came to Notre Dame for its business courses only, and did not graduate.{{cite journal |title=Father Edward Malloy Becomes 16th President |journal=Scholastic |date=November 14, 1986 |volume=128 |issue=Special Issue |url=http://archives.nd.edu/Scholastic/VOL_0128/VOL_0128_ISSUE_0007B.pdf |access-date=15 May 2023 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-date=October 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002201955/https://archives.nd.edu/Scholastic/VOL_0128/VOL_0128_ISSUE_0007B.pdf}} He started a "Belles Lettres" programs and invited many notable lay intellectuals to campus, including Maurice Francis Egan, and started reconstructing the library which was lost in the fire.
Walsh reorganized the law school and in 1882 he built the Science Hall.{{cite book |title=Catholic higher education in the 1960s : issues of identity, issues of governance |date=October 2009 |publisher=Information Age Pub |isbn=9781607523420 |pages=104}} He also built Sorin Hall which was the first freestanding residence hall on campus and one of the first in the country to have private rooms for students.{{cite web |title=Notre Dame -- 100 Years: Chapter XV |url=http://archives.nd.edu/hope/hope15.htm |website=archives.nd.edu}} Walsh was initially against this innovation, as he believed private rooms would lead to disciplinary issues, but this project was championed by Sorin and John Zahm.{{cite book |last1=Dosen |first1=Anthony J. |title=Catholic higher education in the 1960s : issues of identity, issues of governance |date=2009 |publisher=Information Age Pub |isbn=9781607523420 |pages=104}} During his tenure, Notre Dame started its football program and started awarding the Laetare Medal.{{cite web |title=The Laetare Medal {{!}} Commonweal Magazine |url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/laetare-medal |website=www.commonwealmagazine.org |language=en}}
He died of kidney disease at the age of 40.
Legacy
Walsh Hall at the University of Notre Dame was dedicated in his honor.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite web |title=Notre Dame -- 100 Years: Chapter XV |url=http://archives.nd.edu/hope/hope16.htm |website=archives.nd.edu}}
- {{cite book |title=Catholic higher education in the 1960s : issues of identity, issues of governance |date=October 2009 |publisher=Information Age Pub |isbn=9781607523420}}
{{University of Notre Dame presidents}}
{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= Canada |portal4= United States}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Thomas E.}}
Category:Presidents of the University of Notre Dame
Category:20th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests