An inspired and humble perspective greets a new academic year at Notre Dame with several new leaders in service. Those include five whose names and faces you’ll recognize, but with fresh titles and ideas for their respective areas of the University. Meeting on the steps of the Main Building following the Mass held to celebrate the opening of the academic year, this group exchanged enthusiasm for the year ahead — each one with similar sentiments about their new leadership appointments at Notre Dame.
JOHN MCGREEVY
Charles and Jill Fischer Provost
“Notre Dame’s aspiration to become one of the world’s leading research universities while sustaining and deepening its Catholic identity is one of the most exciting projects in global higher education,” John McGreevy said in accepting his new role.
“Given the many challenges we face in our nation, the Church and the world, this project has never been more important. I am honored to assist in this effort and look forward to working with faculty, staff and students to advance the work of Notre Dame.”
McGreevy, a distinguished historian and former dean of the College of Arts and Letters, began his tenure as the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost of the University on July 1, the sixth provost at Notre Dame since the position was established in 1970. As Notre Dame’s chief academic officer, McGreevy is responsible for the overall operation of the academic enterprise, including the faculty, colleges, schools, institutes, centers, libraries and student advising.
The Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, McGreevy served as the department’s chair from 2002 to 2008 and then for the next decade as the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, Notre Dame’s oldest and largest college with 20 departments, more than 500 faculty members, over 2,800 undergraduates and some 1,000 graduate students.
As dean, McGreevy advanced the college in multiple ways, including significantly strengthening the social sciences; increasing the number of arts and letters majors writing a senior thesis by more than 30 percent, which in turn has led to more undergraduate research; introducing the nationally recognized 5+1 Postdoctoral Fellowship Program giving students who finish their doctoral degree in five years a year of post-doctoral funding; starting new doctoral degree programs in Spanish, Italian, anthropology and sacred music; expanding programs and departments in the arts; enhancing existing elite programs in the humanities; growing the Institute for Latino Studies; and creating more interdisciplinary curricula across the University, including a major in neuroscience and minors in computing and digital technologies and business economics. He served as co-chair of the University’s most recent core curriculum review.
McGreevy earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in history from Stanford University after graduating magna cum laude from Notre Dame in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He also taught for a year at Hales Franciscan High School in Chicago. Before returning to his alma mater in 1997, he completed a Lilly Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in humanities at Valparaiso University in the 1992-93 academic year and served as the Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History and Literature at Harvard University.
McGreevy is the author of four books, including the recently published “Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis.”
HEATHER CHRISTOPHERSEN
Vice President for Human Resources
Heather Christophersen was appointed vice president of Human Resources in July, taking over the responsibilities for the comprehensive support and development of all Notre Dame employees, directing the work of benefits and compensation, people services, strategic consulting, talent acquisition, learning and development, staff diversity and inclusion, and analytics and institutional equity teams.
Prior to her appointment to vice president of HR, Christophersen served as the associate vice president of advancement services in Notre Dame’s Office of Development. In this role she led the operational units of development, including the internal engagement, organizational strategy (finance and talent management), information technology and services, research and prospect strategy, gift management, and stewardship teams.
“I am thrilled and honored to serve Notre Dame, a place I deeply love, in this new capacity,” Christophersen said. “I am most excited for the opportunity to have a positive impact on our talented and dedicated employees and, together with partners across campus, to continue our efforts to ensure Notre Dame is a great place to work.”
Prior to her role in University Relations, Christophersen served as director of maintenance at the University for four years, managing the maintenance operations of 190 campus buildings and more than 11 million gross square feet. Previously at Notre Dame, she was the director of strategic planning, director of sustainability and director of service programs in the Notre Dame Alumni Association.
Christophersen earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Notre Dame and a Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Between time spent at her undergraduate alma mater, she worked in the chemicals industry for more than 11 years for BP Chemicals and Elevance Renewable Sciences in a variety of roles in manufacturing, logistics, asset management and business operations.
ANNE GRIFFITH
Vice President for University Enterprises and Events
“I am humbled and delighted for the opportunity to lead University Enterprises and Events, an extraordinarily talented and diverse team, in serving Our Lady’s University,” Anne Griffith said. “I look forward to leading my dedicated and caring colleagues in UEE to new heights through innovation, collaboration and an enduring commitment to Notre Dame’s mission.”
As vice president for University Enterprises and Events (UEE), Griffith will provide strategic executive leadership to Notre Dame’s hospitality, licensing and merchandising programs, leading 30 business units across campus including the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore, the Morris Inn, McKenna Conference Center, retail and residential dining, and licensing. UEE also plays an integral role in most major campus events, including commencement, football gameday hospitality and concerts in Notre Dame Stadium.
Griffith served as assistant vice president for UEE for the year before her elevation to vice president and led the division’s business development, finance, technology, talent acquisition and management, marketing, continuous improvement and operational units.
Before joining UEE, Griffith spent two years as director in the Office of the President and also took on additional responsibilities in the COVID-19 Response Unit. She spent the previous nine years in the Office of Development, serving as the senior director of the East Region, director of research and prospect management and assistant director of regional analysis.
Griffith earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Purdue University and an MBA from Loyola University. Before coming to Notre Dame in 2010, she held leadership positions with Baxter Healthcare, the Hartford Insurance Group, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble.
MICKI KIDDER
Vice President for Undergraduate Enrollment
Micki Kidder now leads the undergraduate enrollment team in building and deepening relationships with prospective students and enrolling and supporting scholars who value a Catholic-centered education.
The division is home to several units that support students from the beginning of their college search to final year on campus, including the Offices of Pre-College Programs, Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Accounts and Student Shared Services. With this appointment, University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., made the leadership of the Enrollment Division a vice presidential position that will report to the president, with a secondary reporting line to the provost.
Prior to her new position, Kidder served three years as the inaugural leader of University Enterprises and Events, during which she developed a division-wide strategic plan to reimagine the University’s hospitality offerings and ensure that students, staff, faculty, alumni and campus visitors enjoy a distinctive and inclusive Notre Dame experience that reflects both the University’s rich traditions as well as the vibrancy and energy of today’s campus. An innovative and strategic leader in building diverse and inclusive cultures, Kidder created the Embrace initiative within UEE and has been a featured speaker at national conferences, including for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the ASU+GSV Summit.
Previously a member of Notre Dame’s University Relations senior management team as associate vice president and executive director of development, Kidder played a key role in the University’s fundraising efforts, including leadership of the individual giving, athletics advancement, annual giving and advancement services teams.
Kidder first joined the University in 2004, serving in roles in the Offices of the President and Executive Vice President, where she managed major campus-wide initiatives such as the University’s Strategic Emergency Preparedness and Response Protocol and Office of the Board Secretariat.
Kidder is a 2000 graduate of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and is a certified public accountant. She holds a certificate of education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and earned her Master of Business Administration degree from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business in 2019. Kidder also serves as a term assistant teaching professor of management and organization in Mendoza.
Kidder said: “I am humbled to serve Our Lady’s University in this new capacity, and grateful for Don Bishop and earlier predecessors for their strategic and selfless leadership. Ensuring that a Notre Dame education is accessible to future cohorts of talented students, our leaders of tomorrow, and to do so at a university I love so deeply, is a privilege and honor.”
REV. HUGH R. PAGE JR.
Vice President for Institutional Transformation and Advisor to the President
The Rev. Canon Hugh R. Page Jr. now serves as the University’s inaugural vice president for institutional transformation and advisor to the president.
In his new role, Page will serve as a strategic leader working closely with the president and University leadership to create and coordinate an integrated diversity, equity and inclusion strategy centrally and across the various divisions, colleges and schools.
“This is an exciting step in the University’s ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and I am honored to be the first person selected for this new role,” he said.“We must be intentional and creative in investing our energies and resources if we are more fully to become an inclusive and welcoming community — one where a commitment to justice and love animates all transformational endeavors. I look forward to working with Father Jenkins, University leaders, faculty, staff, students, alumni and other partners to achieve our goals.”
Page, a professor of theology and Africana studies, was appointed vice president and associate provost for institutional transformation and leadership development in 2021. His major responsibilities include administrative supervision of the Center for Social Concerns, Notre Dame Scholars’ Program, Balfour-Hesburgh Scholars Program, AnBryce Scholars Initiative, Transformational Leaders Program, TRIO Programs, Academic Community Engagement, Notre Dame Learning and domestic gateways.
He served as Notre Dame’s vice president and associate provost for undergraduate affairs from 2013 to 2021 and was dean of the University’s First Year of Studies for 14 years. During this time, he helped create the University’s Moreau First Year Experience course sequence. He has also served as associate dean for undergraduate studies in Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters and director of the African and African American Studies Program. He was instrumental in the development of the latter into the Department of Africana Studies, which he later chaired from 2012 to 2015, and has been involved in numerous diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Page will report to Father Jenkins and assist in formulating and leading the implementation of a broad strategy around diversity and inclusion, monitor progress on that plan, convene diversity leaders, anticipate challenges and work with units to catalyze structural and cultural change that will serve the University’s ideals around diversity and inclusion. He will advise the president and University leadership and serve as a public University representative to constituencies outside the immediate campus community.
An Episcopal priest, Page is an honorary canon of the Cathedral of St. James, Diocese of Northern Indiana. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Hampton University, two master’s degrees from the General Theological Seminary in New York, a doctorate in ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation, and master’s and doctoral degrees in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from Harvard University. He joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1992.