Biographies

Darlene Connelly ’77

Darlene Connelly, a double Domer, graduated with a spirited Class of 1977 and received her law degree in 1980. The only Notre Dame(s) she knew were her all-girls' high school in Chardon, Ohio; the College of Notre Dame in Cleveland; and the Cathedral in Paris. Inspired by her high school best friend and later ND roommate, she discovered a fourth Notre Dame in South Bend.

 

 

Debi Dell ’76

Deborah (Debi) A. Dell graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1976 with a Bachelor's in Business Administration, Management. She was a member of the first class of undergraduate women admitted to ND in 1972. Inspired by her father, attending Notre Dame was a lifetime goal from the age of eight. Writing Objects in the Rearview Mirror connected her with many Notre Dame daughters and sons across the decades, helping her to understand and appreciate the impact of the early Notre Dame coeducation journey.

Michelle Renaldo Ferguson ’80

Michelle Renaldo Ferguson ’80 is a global transformation executive with operations, finance, and shared services expertise. She spent most of her career at S&P Global/McGraw Hill, where she held various positions, including SVP of International Operations and SVP of Global Business Services. Her legacy includes founding the first ERG, WINS, co-founding a global mentoring program, and being an advisor for other ERGs. She is a DEI advocate and serial mentoring. Michelle is currently supporting the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in launching a DEIA initiative.

She has also held positions at KPMG, Abrams, and Maxwell Communications.

Michelle holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BBA from the University of Notre Dame, where has served on several boards and advisory councils. Michelle’s first book Women Mentoring Women will be published in the spring of 2022. She is the mother of two sons, Mike ’05 and Brian ’06, and grandmother of five.

Colleen Moore, '97, M.Div. '04

Colleen Moore ‘97, M.Div. ‘04 is the Director of Formation for the McGrath Institute for Church Life and Program Director for Echo, a two-year graduate service program that partners with dioceses across the country to train the next generation of leaders in faith formation and theological education in Catholic parishes and schools. Her primary interests lie in integrative approaches to theology and ministry formation and at the intersection of spiritual formation, justice and art. Colleen is a graduate of the Program of Liberal Studies and Master of Divinity Programs and a former lay associate of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Chile. She is a proud resident of South Bend where she lives with her husband, Jake.

Stacey Stough Noem ’98, MDiv ’05

Stacey Stough Noem, ’98, MDiv '05 is currently the Director of Human and Spiritual Formation for lay students in the Masters of Divinity program. Raised on the Gulf Coast of Florida, she is the daughter of two ND alums and her mother was in the first class of women. She met her husband in class during their undergraduate time at ND and they were married the day after finals in 1998 at the Basilica. A former Jesuit Volunteer in Alaska, she has worked extensively with JVC:NW, PACE, the House of Brigid, and ECHO on community formation and development. Stacey received her Masters of Divinity from the University of Notre Dame in 2005 and served at the University of Portland in Oregon before returning to ND in 2012. She and her husband have three pretty great children, one of whom will be a senior at ND next fall.

Becky Savage

Becky Savage is the mother of Nick and Jack and the Co-Founder of the 525 Foundation. She is a Nurse Educator, and a sought-after National speaker educating teens, parents, first responders, and school officials on the dangers of prescription drug misuse. Becky is passionate about Primary Prevention through outreach, education, and support. She has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Ball State University and a Masters in Nursing Education from Bethel University. Becky and her husband Mike love spending time at Donnell Lake, MI with their two adult sons, Justin and Matt. When Becky is not out on the lake or at home in Granger, Indiana, she can be found at an ice rink somewhere around South Bend or chasing her CRAZY dogs Tucker, Cash, Sadie, and Josie Mae.

Marianne Murphy Zarzana ’78

Marianne Murphy Zarzana, '78, associate professor emerita of English, Southwest Minnesota State University, lives in South Bend, Indiana with her husband, sci-fi author James A. Zarzana. Zarzana's poems have appeared in Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, Rocked by the Waters: Poems of Motherhood, Like Sunshine after Rain, Globalisation: The Sphere Keeps Spinning, Stoneboat, Pasque Petals, Boomer Lit Mag, Umbrella Journal, and other journals. Her essays have appeared in Notre Dame Magazine. She is currently training to become a certified HoopYogini.