Sept. 29, 2006

The Harvey G. Foster Award —
Presented by the Notre Dame Alumni Association on the field today.

Jack Connor ’50 and Jerry Groom ’51, Fighting Irish teammates under Coach Frank Leahy, are also honored during today’s game for their teamwork off the football field. Their devotion to the University of Notre Dame and their gratitude to Coach Leahy has been reflected in many ways during the five decades since their graduation. Together they founded the Leahy Scholarship program (the Frank Leahy Fund and the Frank Leahy/Creighton Miller Fund), which has reached a total value of nearly 1.5 and benefitted 31 Notre Dame students since 1997.

Jack wrote two books recounting the Leahy years at Notre Dame: Leahy’s Lads and Connor – The Life Story of George Connor. Jack received an athletic scholarship to Notre Dame and played one year of varsity basketball and four years of football on the 1946, ’47 and ’49 National Championship teams. After serving two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Jack worked as a special agent in the FBI stations in the Miami and New York field offices. In 1960, he joined the investment banking firm of A.G. Becker, and later was self-employed as a financial consultant. Jack, longtime resident of the Chicago area, died in April, 2004. He is survived by his wife, Alice — who is accepting the award today — and their four children, Kevin, Terri Brankin, Pattie Beem and Jacky Buell.

Jack Connor and Jerry Groom

Jerry, team captain of the 1950 Irish football team and a consensus All-American, continued his football career with the Chicago Cardinals, made a Pro Bowl appearance in 1954, and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Following his football career, Jerry served in a broadcast position for the Denver Broncos before becoming a vice president with Levi Strauss & Co. Under Jerry’s leadership, private donations were sought for the sculpture of Frank Leahy, which stands on the east side of Notre Dame Stadium. Jerry resides in Sarasota, Florida, with his wife, Kathy. They have four children: Cynthia Groom, David Groom, James Sloan and Maureen Sloan. Acceptance responses for today’s presentation of the Harvey G. Foster Award to:

Jack Connor ’50 (posthumously)
On behalf of my husband Jack, I’d like to thank the Notre Dame Alumni Association for this wonderful award. I know Jack is smiling down on all of us today. Jack was an extraordinary man in many ways. He was a true scholar, gifted athlete, successful businessman, author, wonderful singer, friend to many, and a wonderful brother, father and husband.

But of all of his achievements, if I could ask him what he was most proud of, I think he would have answered simply: He was proud to be a Notre Dame man. “. . . and his heart forever, loves thee Notre Dame.” God bless you all.
— Mrs. Alice Connor

Jerry Groom ’51

It is with deep gratitude to the Alumni Association that I accept the Harvey Foster Award — the list of honorees is certainly outstanding. The one person who enabled me to attend this great university, and will always be remembered by the Groom family is the former coach, Frank Leahy, who was — in my opinion — ND’s greatest head coach. The respect of Coach Leahy by his former players is exemplified by the founding of the “Frank Leahy Memorial Scholarship Fund” for Notre Dame students. Again, my sincere thanks to all for this honor. I love you Notre Dame!
— Jerry Groom ’51

Also presented this weekend by the Alumni Association:

Terrence E. Sauvain Sr.

Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, CSC, Award

Terrence E. Sauvain Sr. ’63 of Garrett Park, Maryland, is the recipient of the 2006 Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, CSC, Award, which was presented Thursday evening, September 28. He is minority staff director on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and assistant to its ranking minority member, U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WVa).

A native of Cleveland, Sauvain went to Washington D.C. after graduating from Notre Dame and worked within several federal agencies. He earned a master’s degree in 1971 from George Washington University, and in 1973 began service with the Appropriations Committee. The committee makes recommendations on the expenditure of over $800 billion per year. Sauvain combined that career with 30 years in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, rising to the rank of captain, and earned the National Guard Eagle Award for his role in the U.S. Coast Guard-U.S. National Guard Counter-Drug program and the Meritorious Service Medal.

Paul Bonitatibus

Sauvain was honored with the Nyumbani Medallion of Hope for his assistance to Senator Byrd in the humanitarian fight to bring relief to children with HIV-AIDS in Africa. Terry received a Doctor of Humane Letters degree, honoris causa, from Wheeling Jesuit University.

He credits Rev. Ted Hesburgh’s encouragement for entering into a career of public service. Terry and his wife, Veronica, have three children, all lawyers, Marie Robertson ’91, Catherine and Terry Jr., ’05JD, and a son-in-law, James Robertson ’91.

Richard A. Rosenthal Award

Michael O. Read

Paul Bonitatibus ’71, Michael O. Read ’65, and Rod West ’90 were honored on Thursday evening, September 28, with the Richard A. Rosenthal Award for their exemplary activity following Hurricane Katrina. All three are past presidents of the Notre Dame Alumni Association, and New Orleans area residents.

Read and Bonitatibus are both executives with Hibernia National Bank (Capital One), who also have extensive civic involvement in the New Orleans community and active roles in redevelopment of the city. The Read family endured the personal crisis of evacuating daughter Lauren ’03 from a New Orleans hospital to a location where her life-support could be maintained.

West has been responsible for rebuilding the city’s power distribution system, after the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, in his role of regional manager for distribution operations with New Orleans’ electric utility company, Entergy. West also chairs the LSU Board of Supervisors (trustees).

Rod West

To Honor and Thank

In gratitude for exemplary accomplishments and devotion to notable causes, the Alumni Association bestows 17 awards annually. To learn more about the awards and to nominate someone deserving of recognition, call 574-631-6000 or visit http://www.nd.edu/~alumweb/nominate.html.