Author and Notre Dame priest-professor Wilson D. Miscamble tracks how Father Ted Hesburgh, longtime president of Notre Dame, transformed Catholic higher education in the postwar era and explores how he became a much-celebrated voice in America at large. Yet, beyond the hagiography that often surrounds Hesburgh’s legacy lies another more complex and challenging story. What exactly were his contributions to higher learning; what was his involvement in the civil rights movement; and what was the nature of his role as adviser to popes and presidents?

Reverend Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C. joined the permanent faculty in the History Department at Notre Dame in 1988. He chaired the History Department from 1993 to 1998. He also served as Rector and Superior of Moreau Seminary (2000–2004), the principal formation site for the Congregation of Holy Cross in North America. Fr. Miscamble’s primary research interests are American foreign policy since World War II and the role of Catholics in twentieth-century U.S. foreign relations.