University of Notre Dame alumnus Matthew Walsh and his wife, Joyce, have made a $150 million gift to Notre Dame’s School of Architecture.
Their investment will expand the global reach, research capacity and long-term vision of the school. In recognition of the gift, the school will be renamed the Matthew and Joyce Walsh School of Architecture at Notre Dame.
“Through the support of the Walsh family, our School of Architecture — widely renowned for its classical and new urbanist approach to the discipline — has an opportunity to build its already prestigious program in ways that will influence the teaching and practice of architecture in our country and around the world,” said John McGreevy, Charles and Jill Fischer Provost of the university, in a press release.
The Walshes supported the 2014 renovation of Notre Dame’s academic facility in Rome. They also provided a $33 million gift in 2013 to construct a new building to serve as a home for the School of Architecture. The 100,000-square-foot Walsh Family Hall opened in 2018.
“This new superlative gift is first and foremost a ringing endorsement of the importance of our unique pedagogy that demands respect for place, culture, climate and social purpose as it prepares students to address peoples’ physical need for shelter and place and their spiritual longing for community and identity,” Stefanos Polyzoides, Francis and Kathleen Rooney Dean of the School of Architecture, said.
Matthew Walsh earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Notre Dame in 1968. He earned a law degree from Loyola University Chicago in 1972. He has served as School of Architecture Advisory Council chair from 2004 to 2021.
After earning his law degree, Walsh joined his family’s business, Walsh Construction, a Chicago firm founded by his Irish immigrant grandfather in 1898. The School of Architecture at Notre Dame was also established in 1898.
“Our goal in making this gift is to ensure that the Notre Dame School of Architecture continues to lead architecture across the world and the creation of world-class environments,” Matthew Walsh said. “Notre Dame architects have always been inspirational leaders. Our goal is to ensure that continues in perpetuity.”
