Former Irish running back Jim Morse donated funds to the University for the installation of FieldTurf in Notre Dame Stadium, the Notre Dame Monogram Club announced Aug. 13 in a press release.
Morse is a private investor who served as captain of the 1956 Irish football team and graduated in 1957. A previous donation from him enabled the construction of the Coleman-Morse Center, which bears his and his wife’s names in addition to that of the late Thomas Coleman, according to the press release.
Morse’s other contributions to Notre Dame include “the Morse Family Scholarship Fund, which supports about 12 students annually; funding for football and baseball scholarships; an endowed fellowship for MBA students; and a major gift for the Morse Recruiting Lounge in the Guglielmino Athletics Complex, featuring banners for Notre Dame's 11 consensus national football titles,” the press release stated.
The University officially announced its plans to replace Notre Dame Stadium’s natural grass with synthetic FieldTurf on April 12 at the annual Blue-Gold game. Installation began after Commencement Weekend (May 16-18), the press release stated, but the donor’s name had not been revealed until the Monogram Club press release.
On July 30, Notre Dame completed the FieldTurf installation, according to a WNDU report.
