University of Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, CSC, joined world leaders today in mourning the death of former President Jimmy Carter at the age of 100 at his home in Plains, Georgia.

“President Carter was a valued friend of Notre Dame and especially of our longtime president, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC,” Father Dowd said. “The Notre Dame community joins in mourning the passing of our 39th president while celebrating his remarkable service to our nation and the world, both inside and outside the Oval Office. We extend our deepest condolences to the Carter family.”

The relationship between Notre Dame and Carter began in the summer of 1976. Shortly after accepting the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, Carter called Father Hesburgh late one evening and asked him for advice on various topics. Carter valued the insights Father Hesburgh shared so much that he gave the priest president his home phone number in Plains and asked him for recommendations for his administration staff should he win the election.

Shortly after Carter was elected in November, Father Hesburgh met with the president-elect in Washington, D.C., to discuss recommendations from the Presidential Clemency Board, a body to which Father Hesburgh was appointed by President Gerald Ford.

After Carter’s inauguration in January 1977, Father Hesburgh invited the new president to Notre Dame’s inauguration ceremony in May to give the keynote address and receive an honorary degree. Carter accepted and delivered what was considered by many to be the most important foreign policy speech of his presidency. He argued for the creation of new global alliances and advocated for human rights, policies built on the “new reality of a politically awakening world.” He also spoke of his desire to reduce tensions with the Soviet Union, work for peace in the Middle East and reduce the threat of nuclear war.

During his one-year presidency, Carter appointed Father Hesburgh to head an American delegation to a United Nations conference on science and technology for development held in Vienna in 1977 and to chair the Special Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. Father Hesburgh also accompanied Rosalynn Carter on a fact-finding mission to Southeast Asia that resulted in a plan to prevent mass starvation among Cambodian refugees.

The Carters returned to Notre Dame in 1992 as the first recipients of the Notre Dame Prize, which honors men and women of every faith and nationality whose lives and actions have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to the ideals the university stands for: faith, Research, education, justice, public service, peace and care for the most vulnerable.

At a memorial service for Father Hesburgh following his death at age 97 on February 26, 2015, the Carters joined other dignitaries in honoring the Holy Cross priest who led Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987. Among several anecdotes, Carter recalled his “mistake” work in 1979, asking Father Hesburgh if there was anything he could do for him. Father Hesburgh told Carter he wanted a ride on an SR-71 supersonic reconnaissance aircraft known as the Blackbird.

“I said, ‘Father Hesburgh, it’s not customary for civilians to fly on top-secret planes,'” Carter recalled with a smile. “He said, ‘That’s OK. I thought you were commander in chief.’”

With that, Carter was true to his word and arranged the flight. At the honor, he recalled: “I told an SR-71 pilot that he would have his first civilian passenger, who was a special friend of mine. And I asked him how fast the Blackbird ever flew. He said 2,193 mph. It was the fastest airplane in the world. I said I would be very happy if he could move a little quicker on taking over from Father Hesburgh. And on the last day of February 1979, Father Ted took to the air in an SR-71 Blackbird aircraft and reached a speed of 2,200 miles per hour with the pilot, setting a new world record.”

Carter last visited the university in 2018, when he and Rosalynn worked with Notre Dame and other community volunteers on 38 Habitat for Humanity homes.