The Pulte Family Partnership
“...help me, and all the people of the world,
learn how to replace hate, war, oppression,
and division with love, peace, freedom, and
reconciliation.”— from “A Prayer for World Peace”
Promoting tolerance, inclusivity, and respect for diversity, Master Builder and entrepreneur William J. (Bill) Pulte’s global philanthropy was shaped by his vision of a world living in peace, where the needs of the most vulnerable would be met with compassion. He believed this future was possible through a shared commitment by the greater human family, its members constant in their love for one another.
In November 2019, the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, in honor of William J. Pulte (1932-2018), made the University of Notre Dame a $111 million partnership gift – the largest of its kind at Notre Dame. A portion of this was directed toward the endowment and directorship of the Pulte Institute for Global Development. Today, we see each of the Foundation’s four areas of focus—care for others, education, hunger and thirst, and shelter—supported by the Pulte Institute’s research and program development in more than 70 countries.
The Pulte Platform for Policy in the Keough School of Global Affairs expanded the reach of this work. Established by a 2022 Foundation gift, the Pulte Platform for Policy supports three senior faculty to advance the school’s international impact in the academic and policymaking spaces on issues related to integral human development, poverty alleviation, and peacebuilding. Through their work to support student formation, these faculty are building a new understanding of age-old problems with emerging leaders, future generations essential to making the peace Bill sought a reality for marginalized populations.
During his life, Bill convened eight leaders across faith traditions to discuss peacebuilding techniques; together, they created “A Prayer for World Peace.” Through a gift to honor his legacy, the prayer now lives at the heart of Our Lady of the Lake World Peace Plaza on Notre Dame’s campus, engraved in six languages and shining through waters that flow over a fountain just west of the Grotto.
The creation of this shared space for reflection is the most recent manifestation of the Foundation’s partnership with Notre Dame: a refuge and sanctuary, open to all. But it is our work together perceived as an integrated whole—with students on campus, in meetings with policymakers, and in partnership with those most vulnerable among us—that most fully lives into Bill’s vision of a more caring and compassionate world.