Edward Sorin C.S.C.
Edward Sorin, C.S.C. (1814–1893) was born in the west of France, was ordained in 1838 and joined the newly founded Congregation of Holy Cross shortly thereafter. In 1841, Father Sorin was sent to establish a mission in Indiana. After a year’s service in Vincennes Sorin was offered a tract of land in the diocese’s northernmost section—on the condition that a college be situated there—and arrived at the property, located near the south bend of the St. Joseph River, in November 1842. On January 15, 1844, the Indiana legislature officially chartered the University of Notre Dame, one of the world’s premier Catholic institutions of higher learning.