Thanking Father Ted

  To all the daughters of Notre Dame, I would like to say I can't tell you how proud I am of the fact that you all bear Notre Dame degrees. By your lives and your goodness, you have changed the world in many ways." --Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.

  * In honor of the 90th birthday of retired president Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame undergraduate alumnae and campus celebrities thank him for the gift of coeducation and discuss its impact on their lives.

Thanking Father Ted: Thirty-Five Years of Notre Dame Coeducation contains more than 150 letters from alumnae worldwide, from Notre Dame's first woman undergraduate degree recipient in 1972 through women recently admitted to the class of 2011. These letters detail the history of Notre Dame coeducation for the first time from the perspective of alumnae themselves.

  This book is also the first time administrators and trustees have recounted their experiences in transitioning Notre Dame to coeducation. The book includes celebrity letters from such notables as former coaches Lou Holtz and Ara Parseghian, television personality Regis Philbin, NBC news chief financial correspondent Anne Thompson, and athletes Joe Theismann, Tom Clements, and Joe Montana.

  * The Thanking Father Ted Foundation will donate all profits from the book to fund a scholarship at Notre Dame in Father Ted's name in honor of his 90th birthday in 2007.