Rev. Timothy R. Scully, C.S.C., founder of the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program has received a 2008 Presidential Citizens Medal in recognition of his commitment to “strengthening communities through faith-based education that prepares individuals for a lifetime of achievement, service and compassion,” according to a White House statement.
“Through his leadership at the University of Notre Dame, he has developed innovative ways to support under-resourced schools. The United States honors Father Scully for demonstrating that every human being has boundless potential,” the statement concluded.
One of the highest honors the president can confer upon a civilian – second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the Presidential Citizens Medal recognizes U.S. citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for the nation. Since its establishment by executive order in 1969, some 100 people have received the award. Fr. Scully is one of 24 recipients of the 2008 medal,
Fr. Scully’s passion for education renewal is perhaps best evidenced by the work of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), Notre Dame’s signature service teaching program, which he founded in 1994. What began as a cohort of 40 volunteers sixteen years ago has since become the premier provider of talent and resources to under-served Catholic schools across the country. ACE now recruits and places more college graduates for service in Catholic schools than any other program in the nation. These ACE teachers commit to two years of service in their assigned schools and simultaneously earn their master of education degrees from Notre Dame.
Ordained a Holy Cross priest in 1981, Father Scully was graduated from Notre Dame in 1976 and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. He now oversees the work of ACE and is the director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI), the mission of which is to improve the education of all youth, particularly the disadvantaged, through teaching, research and outreach.
