The architecture school at the University of Notre Dame is known, along with the University of Miami, as the finest in the U.S. for the study of classical architecture and traditional urbanism. That’s why the Driehaus Prize (see 2003 entry) was based there. In 2013 Matthew Walsh, who runs his family construction company, the largest contractor in Chicago, announced that he and his wife, Joyce, would fund creation of a new School of Architecture building on the Notre Dame campus. They are simultaneously paying for the addition of two new programs—in historic preservation, and real-estate development—which will expand the program’s enrollment. This was one of the largest gifts in the university’s history, and aims to elevate the Notre Dame architecture school, which dates back to 1898, to the highest levels of the profession.
- School of Architecture announcement, architecture.nd.edu/news-and-events/news/43099-notre-dame-received-27-million-gift