College Benefactors -- Tom and Kathy Mendoza
In March 2000, the College of Business received a $35 million naming gift from Tom and Kathy Mendoza. Their generous contribution has enabled the College to recruit top scholars, support existing faculty, initiate new programs, and increase links between Notre Dame students and faculty and high-tech companies in Silicon Valley.
“We wanted to make an impact,” said Tom Mendoza. “The business school at Notre Dame is going places fast; our investment will help. This is a place that turns out special people; I am absolutely confident of that. I look forward to hearing about future graduates doing special things, things that will make us all proud.”
Tom and Kathy Mendoza are senior executives at Network Appliance (NetApp), a leader in the growing network-attached storage market. NetApp is an integral component of many major corporations' storage infrastructure and hosts the majority of the world's e-mail. Since 2002, Fortune magazine has named NetApp one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.”
Since joining NetApp in 1994, Tom and Kathy Mendoza have made major contributions to the company's growth and success. Tom, a 1973 Notre Dame alumnus, has served as vice president of sales, North America; vice president of sales and marketing and is currently the president of NetApp. Kathy, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, has served as director of worldwide Internet sales, senior director of worldwide strategic operations, and also serves on the advisory council for the Mendoza College of Business.
