and administration ==
The university's president is always a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross. The first president was Edward Sorin; and the current president is Robert A. Dowd. As of June 2024, John McGreevy is the provost overseeing academic functions.
Until 1967, Notre Dame had been governed directly by the Congregation. Under the presidency of Theodore Hesburgh, two groups, the Board of Fellows, and the Board of Trustees, were established to govern the university. The 12 fellows are evenly divided between members of the Holy Cross order and the laity; they have final say over the operation of the university. They vote on potential trustees and sign off on all that board's major decisions. The trustees elect the president and provide general guidance and governance to the university.
=== Endowment ===
Notre Dame's endowment was started in the early 1920s by university president James Burns; it was $7 million by 1952 when Hesburgh became president. In fiscal year ending in 2021, the university endowment …
