Robert A. Dowd

Robert Alfred Dowd, C.S.C. (born 1965)^[1] is an American Catholic priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross currently serving as president of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Dowd grew up in Michigan City, Indiana, and attended Marquette Catholic High School. He earned his B.A. in psychology and economics from the University of Notre Dame in 1987, and an M.Div. from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley in 1993. He later earned an M.A. in African Studies from UCLA in 1998, followed by a Ph.D. in political science in 2003.^[2]

Before his election as president, Dowd served at Notre Dame as Vice President and Associate Provost for Interdisciplinary Initiatives, Assistant Provost for Internationalization, Director of the Ford Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity, and the director of the Notre Dame Millennial Development Initiative in the Mpigi District in Uganda, an initiative to advance agriculture, education and health initiatives.^[3]

Dowd's 2015 book titled Christianity, Islam, and Liberal Democracy was praised by many and called "groundbreaking" by reviewer Muhammed Haron.^[4] In it, he makes the case that religious tolerance in Nigeria and other African countries happens because of a variety of religions, rather than in spite of it.^[5]

On December 4, 2023, it was announced that Dowd would succeed John I. Jenkins as the 18th university president, and began his term in that role on June 1, 2024.^[2] He was formally inaugurated at the Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on Friday, September 13, 2024.^[6]

• — (2015). Christianity, Islam and Liberal Democracy : Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-022522-3.

• Three Questions with Rev. Dowd (Notre Dame News, 2015)
• Introducing President-Elect Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C. (Notre Dame press release, late 2023)