Diocese of Saint Cloud
Claire Babineaux-Fontenot and Admiral Christopher W. Grady were elected Trustees of the University of Notre Dame at the Board of Trustees’ Spring Meeting. In addition, the Most Rev. Patrick M. Neary, C.S.C., was elected to the Board of Fellows, and as such will serve as an ex officio Trustee. Trustee Paulita A. Pike was also elected to the Board of Fellows. All appointments take effect July 1.
Babineaux-Fontenot is the former chief executive officer of Feeding America, the nation’s largest charity, distributing food to more than 49 million people facing hunger each year. Prior to joining Feeding America, Babineaux-Fontenot was executive vice president of finance and global treasurer at Walmart. She is the 2024 recipient of the Laetare Medal, the University’s most prestigious award given each year to an American Catholic.
Babineaux-Fontenot holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, a Juris Doctor from Southern University Law Center, and a Master of Laws in taxation from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. She and her husband, Barry Fontenot, have two children.
Admiral Grady retired in 2025 after 41 years of distinguished service in the United States Navy. From 2021 to 2025 he served as the 12th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s second-highest-ranking military officer. He also held the position of acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from February to April 2025. From April 2021 to September 2025, he was the Navy’s “Old Salt,” the longest-serving surface warfare officer on active duty.
Grady graduated from Notre Dame with an undergraduate degree in history and received his commission through Notre Dame’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. He also holds master’s degrees from Georgetown University, where he participated as a fellow in foreign service at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, and the National War College. He and his wife, Christine, are the parents of three children, including two Notre Dame graduates.
Elected to the Board of Fellows, Bishop Neary was appointed as the tenth bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, by the late Pope Francis in December 2022. Prior to this appointment, he served as pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in Portland, Oregon, and spent eight years in leadership of the Congregation of Holy Cross seminary in Nairobi, Kenya, and as district superior of Holy Cross in East Africa. Since 2025, he has served as chair of the board of Catholic Relief Services.
Bishop Neary earned an undergraduate degree in history from Notre Dame, and completed his Master of Divinity degree at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California. He was ordained a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1991.
Elected a Fellow, Pike has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2022. She serves as managing partner of the Chicago office of the law firm Ropes & Gray and is a partner in its asset management group, representing registered fund products and counseling boards of directors on governance, regulatory risks, industry trends and insurance matters. She earned her bachelor’s and law degrees from Notre Dame and teaches courses in mutual fund regulation at Notre Dame Law School and the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She and her husband, Zulfiqar Bokhari, who also holds two degrees from the University, are parents of two children, one of them a Notre Dame student.
Composed of six laywomen and men and six priests of Notre Dame’s founding religious community, the Congregation of Holy Cross, the Board of Fellows is the University’s highest governing body. The Fellows elect the Trustees, adopt and amend the bylaws and are specifically charged with maintaining Notre Dame’s Catholic character.