Jan Hawk’s Notre Dame story begins with her father, Paul Corey ’48. Paul overcame tremendous financial and medical odds to attend Our Lady’s University. As a one-year-old, he contracted polio and was paralyzed on his left side; his left leg was completely immobilized. Two years later, his mother died, and he was sent to live with an aunt and uncle. In their care, Paul survived multiple surgeries, defied doctors’ expectations, and learned to walk with the assistance of a metal full-leg brace.
When it came time for high school, Paul was sent to live with another uncle, a priest who was the principal of a Catholic high school. During his senior year, Paul hitchhiked with some friends to Notre Dame. This experience left him desperately wanting to attend the University even though he did not have the five-dollar application fee. A kind campus priest counseled him to apply anyway, and not to worry about the fee.
Ultimately, Paul was admitted, and he quickly immersed himself in college life. He became active in the Knights of Columbus, helped organize the Bengal Bouts, and was a student prefect (precursor to today’s RA position), all while working multiple jobs to pay his tuition. In 1948, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and went on to marry, start a family, and have a successful career in education and public service.
Upon Paul’s passing in 2013, Jan and her family established the Paul A. Corey Scholarship in his memory to honor him and the value he placed on a Notre Dame education.
Jan recalls the stories her father often shared about his college years. But at that time, Notre Dame was an all-male school, so she didn’t consider attending. Then, in 1972, Notre Dame became co-ed, and Jan set her sights on her father’s alma mater. During a mock trial experience in high school, Jan discerned that she wanted to become a lawyer and knew that the school her dad loved would well prepare her for this career path.
Just like her dad, Jan found a home at Notre Dame. Her four years on campus provided strong critical thinking skills that have guided her throughout her life. Frequent opportunities to attend Mass, participate in retreats, pray at the Grotto, and take classes exploring spiritual values and social justice issues strengthened her faith.
In the spring of her second year, Jan met her future husband, Jeffrey, who was a senior at the time. They became engaged and were married upon her graduation in 1982. Jan went on to earn her law degree, and the couple eventually settled in Lima, Ohio, where her husband established himself in his family’s manufacturing business. They joyfully welcomed and raised two sons.
Jan’s love for Notre Dame has evolved in the years since. She became a Notre Dame parent when their eldest son, Matthew, was accepted in 2008 and again in 2014 when her youngest son Mark was accepted into the graduate school. Both of these experiences reinforced her appreciation for Notre Dame’s mission to educate mind, body, and spirit, as well as its role as a preeminent Catholic research institution.
As a witness to how advances in science had impacted her father’s ability to walk, along with the complexities of Mark’s cancer research, in 2015 Jan and her husband chose to establish the Janet C. and Jeffrey A. Hawk Professorship in Life Sciences. Then, following Jeffrey’s unexpected passing in 2017, Jan and her sons wanted to honor his love of Notre Dame, his experiences in the Mendoza College of Business, and their shared belief in minimizing the financial barriers to education. She and her sons created the Jeffrey and Janet Hawk Family Scholarship in his memory, with preference given to business students who have demonstrated ethical leadership.
Jan and her husband became Badin Guild members in 2011, when they established the Jeffrey A. and Janet C. Hawk Charitable Remainder Unitrust. She uses the earnings from that investment to make further gifts to Notre Dame. Jan also made the University a beneficiary of an IRA. Jan cites the example of philanthropy set by her parents, who believed in giving of their time, talent, and treasure, as well as that of her in-laws, who made investments in Notre Dame’s Institute for Social Concerns early in Jan’s marriage to Jeffrey.
Jan has given generously of her time both on and off campus. She has served on Notre Dame’s Science Advisory Council and is a current member of the Business Advisory Council. She has also been active in various leadership positions in her community; she volunteers with the United Way of Greater Lima and serves on the Community Review Panel and board for the Children’s Developmental Center of Lima. She is also Chair of the Lima Memorial Foundation Board of Trustees which supports projects at Lima Memorial Hospital.
Thank you, Jan, for everything you and your family do for Notre Dame.