Rev. James E. McDonald, C.S.C., J.D.

Associate Vice President and Counselor to the President
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana

Fr. McDonald is the Associate Vice President and Counselor to the President in the administration of the University of Notre Dame’s President (Rev.) John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. He was appointed to this position in January 2005 and assumed his new duties in July. 

He also serves as the Director of the Office of Board Secretariat and Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame.

From 2001-2005, Fr. McDonald was the rector of St. George’s College, a Catholic primary and secondary school with an enrollment of 2,600 students in Santiago, Chile. He formerly served as associate dean for administration at the University of Notre Dame Law School where he was also assistant dean for administration from 1995-1999. 

He was provincial steward for the Indiana Province for the Congregation of Holy Cross from 1994-1997 and vice rector of St. George's College in Santiago, Chile from 1987-1990.

Fr. McDonald received a B.A. in 1979 and an M.Div. in 1984 from the University of Notre Dame. Ordained to the priesthood in 1984, he also holds an M.A. in modern languages from Cambridge University in 1987 and a J.D. from The Catholic University of America's International and Comparative Law Institute in 1994. 

Fr. McDonald has been a Stonehill trustee since spring 1999.