Harry Jenkins

Jenkins' parents, Harry and Helen, required that their children work - to help the family financially and to instill a work ethic.Many of the children attended Creighton University tuition-free, because Harry Jenkins, a gastroenterologist, served on the faculty of the medical school.Those who chose another school were expected to earn half their tuition.

To do so, Jenkins worked at a meatpacking plant, where he clipped the hooves off cattle and steamed the parts to remove the hair.He then packaged them to ship to companies to make soup or other food.He said the job made him appreciate the opportunity of a college education.

Although he was a quiet, responsible child who packed a school lunch without fail, he also had fun, family members said.He played the electric guitar with friends in the neighborhood and was voted prom king by his high school classmates at Creighton Preparatory high school, where he was a member of the swim and soccer teams.

"If I put my hand on the Bible, I would tell you I never, ever, ever remember him not doing his job at home," his mother said.

Jenkins became interested in reading and studying in high school, she said, after being a mediocre elementary and middle school student who earned mostly Bs and Cs.In one of those lifetime ironies, the grade school named him one of its outstanding graduates.

Growing up in a tight-knit Catholic neighborhood, Jenkins was drawn to the sense of community he felt when he joined Notre Dame as a transfer student from Creighton University during his sophomore year.Working from a favorite study carrel on the library's fourth floor, Jenkins studied philosophy and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees.Not until after he graduated from Notre Dame, and after a difficult breakup with a girlfriend, did he seriously consider joining the priesthood.

He thought about his future as he attended daily mass at the campus' Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

"At the time, perhaps this is over-dramatic, the question was: `What would I die for?What would be so important to me that I would die for it?' That question rolled around in my mind at the time and it led me to think about faith and service and led me to the priesthood," he said.

He was ordained a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1983 and earned two degrees in philosophy, including a doctoral degree, from Oxford University in 1989.He then returned to Notre Dame to teach medieval philosophy and the philosophy of religion until he began working in the university's administration in 2000.He was elected president by the board of trustees in 2004, a position that must be held by a Holy Cross priest, and began the job July 1.

Jenkins listens more than he issues orders, say colleagues, friends and family.During a recent day of meetings, he looked directly at each person and listened as they spoke - from the athletic director to the provost to student journalists.He nodded, his arms often crossed, as the visitors to his office shared their ideas and concerns.He offered suggestions on rare occasions, advice he took from General Electric chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt, who told him, "Once the boss speaks, it's over.If you don't speak, you let people generate the ideas," Jenkins recalled.

The adjective most often used to describe him is "human."He listens to everything from J.S. Bach to Bob Dylan and Norah Jones on an iPod when traveling, and hooks up the portable player to a small stereo when he's home.When he cooks, he uses a basic, George Foreman indoor grill to make hamburgers or hot dogs, much like his graduate student neighbors, and he had a Betty Crocker cookbook on top of his stove.

He is humble, declining to say what he gave up for Lent for fear it would sound boastful, according to longtime friend Martha Merritt, an associate director at Notre Dame's Institute for International Peace Studies.She said he told her: "This is a pact between oneself and God and it is not meant to be the subject of casually, joking conversation between friends, but denial of something."

He is surprisingly - and subtly - funny, quick to deliver a one-liner even during the opening mass of the school year.Instead of the traditional service conclusion of "let us go forth in peace, to love and serve the Lord," Jenkins added, "Let us go forth in peace ... and let's go shoot off some fireworks," a nod to the celebration that kicks off the school year.

Not quite shy, Jenkins still tends to be introverted, a word that he agrees fits his personality when used to describe someone who re-energizes by being alone.Even as a child, his grandfather nicknamed him "The Mole" because he liked to retreat to the basement to read, according to his older brother Tom.

Now, as president, he will socialize with alumni clubs around the country and visit wealthy alumni to seek donations.The university is currently in the "quiet phase" of fundraising before kicking off a major campaign.Notre Dame's last major fundraising drive, which ended in December 2000, raised more than $1 billion.On the first day of his presidency, Jenkins secured a $21 million donation for the law school.

Jenkins' most difficult personal challenge will be balancing the expectations of a public figure with his cravings for time to reflect.Unlike his predecessors, he chose to move out of an undergraduate dorm because he needed time alone after days that can last as long as 14 hours.

As the campus gathered to watch Notre Dame's football team defeat rival Michigan earlier this month, Jenkins watched the game alone in his apartment.

He swims and runs about five days a week, but after completing three marathons, he said he no longer has time to train for the long-distance runs.

"You are on stage so much, so many issues are crying out, it is important to step back and think about things - what we're doing, what is our purpose," Jenkins said.He continues to celebrate mass daily and said he'll know there's a problem if a day passes when he doesn't take time to pray.

"I know if that goes out of my life, and I don't have time for that in the day, I know I'm going down the wrong road and I better readjust my priorities," he said.

As part of his inaugural celebration last week as the university's 17th president, Notre Dame showed his favorite movie, `Babette's Feast,' a film about community and accepting fates that do not seem pre-ordained.