Several Honoraries Bestowed By Monogram Club In Recent Months
Recipients at Monogram Club dinner include Mike Leep, Rich O’Leary, Charlie Rice and Charlie Sweeney; 10 others receive honorary monograms during 2001-02 academic year.

Six honorary monograms were bestowed during Alumni Reunion week, withfour presented at the June 6 Monogram Club dinner. Recipientsincluded longtime Notre Dame supporter and local automobile dealerMike Leep, former Irish lacrosse coach and Rec. Sports director RichO’Leary, law school professor Charlie Rice and local attorney CharlieSweeney. Presenters of the honorary monograms at the dinner includedformer Notre Dame football players Dewey Poskon (for Leep), BillZloch (for Rice) and Johnny Ray (for Sweeney), plus lacrosse coachKevin Corrigan and former player Dan Charhut (for O’Leary).

Notre Dame trustee Art Decio and athletic director Kevin White werepresented honorary monograms in a separate ceremony on June 5.Several other honorary monograms had been awarded in recent months -with recipients including longtime Notre Dame football secretary JanBlazi, retired local TV and radio sports personality Tom Dennin,former Irish football coaches Dan Devine and Gerry Faust, retiringdirector of Notre Dame’s Center of Social Concerns Rev. DonaldMcNeill, C.S.C., ND benefactor John McCullough, retired softballcoach Liz Miller and University vice president Scott Malpass.

JAN BLAZI is the longtime administrative assistant in the Notre Damefootball office, as primary secretarial contact for head coachesGerry Faust, Lou Holtz, Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham. She alsoserved on Notre Dame’s Staff Advisory Council (1995-2000). Her30-year tenure in the athletic department’s secretarial staffincluded a stint in the sports information office, before returningto the football office as the head coach’s secretary. She has fourchildren: Chris (a longtime ND employee, currently as a campuscontrols technician) and ND graduates Tony, Terri and Geoff.

ART DECIO – namesake of Decio Faculty Hall and lifetime Notre Dametrustee – is chairman of Elkhart’s Skyline Corporation, a leadingproducer of manufactured housing and recreational vehicles (24companies in 12 states). He has received presidential appointments tothree national commissions and his many awards include the UnitedWay’s deTocqueville Award (outstanding volunteer service), theIndiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities first CAUSE Award(Commitment, Awareness, Understanding, Support, Empowerment) and theSalvation Army’s Distinguished Auxiliary Service Cross. Decio hasserved on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, SpecialOlympics International and the Finance Council for the CatholicDiocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. He and his wife Patricia have fivechildren and 14 grandchildren.

TOM DENNIN was sports director at WNDU-TV from 1969-82, providing TVand radio play-by-play for ND football and radio broadcasts forseveral other Irish sports (also hosting football and basketballcoaches shows). He later hosted a sportstalk show at WSBT Radio from1983-90 and in the late ’90s, before retiring. A Philadelphia native,he graduated from St. Joseph’s College and Columbia School ofBroadcasting and was sports director at WNBF-TV in Binghamton, N.Y.,covering minor-league baseball and college teams (Ithaca football,BIG EAST basketball). Dennin and wife Kathleen have seven childrenand 12 grandchildren.

DAN DEVINE – who passed away on May 9 at the age of 77 in suburbanPhoenix, after a yearlong illness – was the coach of Notre Dame’s1977 national championship team and a College Football Hall of Famer.A native of Augusta, Wis., Devine’s 1975-80 Irish teams combined fora 53-16-1 record (.764), headlined by the 11-1 Joe Montana-led 1977team that won the national title. Most noteworthy of those victorieswas a trademark 49-19 win over No. 5 USC in which Notre Dame warmedup in its traditional blue, then reappeared prior to kickoff in greenjerseys worn the remainder of the Devine era. Notre Dame won thenational title with a 38-10 Cotton Bowl triumph over unbeaten Texas.A former Michigan State assistant, Devine was head coach at ArizonaState from ’55-’57 (his ’57 team was 10-0) and at Missouri from’58-’70 (93-37-7, four bowl wins). He was named Missouri athleticdirector in 1966 and was head coach and GM of the Green Bay Packersfrom ’71-’74 (his ’72 team went 10-4, with Devine coach of the year).After resigning from coaching in 1980, Devine returned to ASU asexecutive director of the Sun Angel Foundation and, in 1987, directeda startup ASU program designed to combat substance abuse. He servedas Missouri’s AD from ’92-’94. . A 1948 graduate ofMinnesota-Duluth,Devine was married to the former Joanne Brookhart,who died in December 2000. He is survived by seven children.

Gerry Faust (left), with ND Alumni Association exec. dir. Chuck Lennon

GERRY FAUST currently works in the University of Akron developmentoffice, after serving as the Zips head football coach from 1987-94.The former Irish head football coach (’81-’85) – who remains an avidsupporter of Notre Dame athletic teams – compiled a 247-96-6 overallrecord in 31 seasons as a head football coach, including a 174-17-2mark and four national titles at Cincinnati’s Moeller High School.Faust and his wife Marlene are parents of three children.

Mike Leep (second from left) and Dewey Poskon, flanked by MonogramClub president Jim Carroll (left) and vice president Dave Duerson(right)

MIKE LEEP is recognized by those in the Notre Dame family for hisintegrity and passion for the University’s mission. A longtimebenefactor, he has been a primary collaborator in helping theUniversity better the community through its support of localnon-profit organizations. His involvement with countless charitiesincludes sitting on the board of the Logan Center, the St. JosephCare Foundation and the Morris Performing Arts Center. His variousawards include the Lee Slaughter Award (“true friend of LoganCenter”) and the Distinguished American Award from the CollegeFootball Hall Of Fame (recognizing community contributions). Leepfounded a Dodge dealership in Highland, Ind., in 1973 (with VanGurley) and opened a Buick dealership in South Bend in 1977 – withhis ownership growing to 11 dealerships. He received of a 2002 Timemagazine Quality Dealer Award (for exceptional performance anddistinguished community service). He and his wife Karen are theparents of three children.

SCOTT MALPASS, Notre Dame’s vice president for finance and chiefinvestment officer, works closely with members of the University’sBoard of Trustees in managing more than $3 billion of financialassets. Malpass, who has coordinated Notre Dame’s debt financingsince 1990, also is an assistant professor of finance and businesseconomics in the Mendoza College of Business. Prior to joining theinvestment office in 1988, he was an officer with Irving TrustCompany. Malpass is a 1984 Notre Dame graduate, also receiving hisMBA from Notre Dame in 1986.

JOHN McCULLOUGH – a ’55 ND grad in communications and a foundingmember of the Badin Guild and Sorin Society – was a Hall-of-Fame TVanchor at Milwaukee’s WTMJ (’67-’88), after filling a similar role atSouth Bend’s WNDU (he also produced ND basketball broadcasts from theold fieldhouse and was on the production team for the Lindsey Nelsondelayed football broadcasts). A documentary producer/host forWisconsin Public Broadcasting (since 1988), he has used hisfriendships to aid several ND fundraising efforts. McCullough andwife Sandy live in Scottsdale, Ariz.

REV. DONALD McNEILL, C.S.C., directed the Center for Social Concernsfrom its founding in 1983. He has been an associate professor oftheology and a professional specialist, teaching a course linked withservice-learning, and has overseen multiple seminars connected withCatholic Social Tradition. A 1958 Notre Dame graduate, Fr. McNeillstudied at the Gregorian University in Rome, where he was ordained apriest in the Congregation of the Holy Cross in 1965. He earned hisdoctorate in pastoral theology in 1971 from Princeton TheologicalSeminary and joined the ND faculty that year.

LIZ MILLER led ND softball through a string of successful seasons(’93-’01), with nine conference titles and a 376-156 record (.707).Combined with 17 years at Lake Michigan College, her teams went917-298, won 21 conference titles and had 13 straight winningseasons. The Irish won 30-plus games every season of her tenure,played in six NCAA Championships, produced 10 All-Americans and 14Academic All-Americans. Her 2001 team (54-7) rose as high as eighthin the national polls and posted a 33-game win streak (longest everby an ND team-oriented sport). Miller and her husband Lloyd reside inBuchanan, Mich., and are the parents of two Notre Dame grads:Jennifer (’93) and Jeremy (’96).

Rich O’Leary (center), with Kevin Corrigan (left) and Dan Charhut(right) – flanked by Jim Carroll and Dave Duerson

RICH O’LEARY is embarking on his 32nd year at Notre Dame, currentlyserving as director of intramural and club sports. He also overseesSt. Joseph Lake Beach and the Bengal Bouts boxing program. He servedas Notre Dame’s head men’s lacrosse coach from 1971-88, including theIrish program’s first eight seasons of varsity status. A native ofEast Meadow, N.Y., O’Leary graduated from Cortland State in 1971,adding a master’s degree from Notre Dame in ’76. He helped NassauCommunity College win the 1967 national junior college title and wasa two-time All-American at Cortland State. O’Leary was given aSpecial Presidential Award from Notre Dame in June of 1996. He andhis wife Linda have four children.

Charlie Rice (second from left) and Bill Zloch, flanked by JimCarroll and vice president Dave Duerson

CHARLIE RICE is a professor emeritus in the ND Law School and avisiting professor at Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Mich. Aformer amateur boxer, Rice also is the faculty advisor emeritus forNotre Dame’s annual Bengal Bouts, which in 2001 raised $71,000 forHoly Cross missions in Bangladesh. Rice – whose daughter Teresa (’89)was an Academic All-America cross country runner at Notre Dame whileanother daughter, Patti (’00), also was a varsity runner with theIrish – owns degrees from Holy Cross College, Boston College and NewYork University. He practiced law in New York and taught at NYU andFordham before joining the Notre Dane faculty in 1969, specializingin constitutional law, jurisprudence and torts. Rice served eightyears as vice-chairman of the New York State Conservative Party, wasa 12-year member of the Education Appeal Board of the U.S. Dept. ofEducation (’81-’93) and served as a consultant to the U.S. Commissionon Civil Rights and to various congressional committees. He also hasserved as editor of the American Journal of Jurisprudence and hasauthored several books. A former Marine and retired Lt. Col. in theMarine Corps Reserve, Rice and his wife Mary reside in Mishawaka andare parents of 10 children.

Charlie Sweeney (left), with Johhny Ray and Dave Duerson (right)

CHARLIE SWEENEY – first president and co-founder of the Notre DameQuarterback Club in 1971 – was founder, editor and publisher of Blueand Gold Fan Newspaper in 1980, served as a lecturer on sports law atthe Notre Dame Law School in the early ’80s and founded the SweeneyLaw Firm, specializing in injury law. After retiring from his lawpractice in 1998, Sweeney has served as an assistant football coachat John Adams High School. A scholarship athlete at the University ofDayton, his football coach was former Notre Dame end William “Bud”Kerr while his teammates included current Notre Dame assistantathletic director George Kelly and fellow honorary monogram winnerGerry Faust. His father Chuck Sweeney was All-America end on NotreDame’s 1937 football team. He and his wife Georgia have six childrenand five grandchildren.

KEVIN WHITE, one of the most progressive and respected administratorsin college athletics, has overseen two of the most successful yearsin Notre Dame athletics history (see p. 14). A career educator, hepreviously had been the athletic director at Loras College, Maine,Tulane and Arizona State. In addition to Notre Dame’s athletic andacademic accomplishment during the White era, he also has championedthe University’s plan to add 64 athletic grants-in-aid over afour-year span (affording every sport the NCAA maximum) andcommissioned a facilities masterplan that will provide long-termupgrading of the athletic physical plant. White and his wife Jane arethe parents of five children.