The Future of Healthcare

Experience the Event

Presented by

How do we build the future we want to see, and how can we ensure artificial intelligence serves the common good? The inaugural RISE AI conference at the University of Notre Dame is a call for a humane approach to the technologies that affect health outcomes for all that uplifts humanity and human dignity. Hear powerful personal stories from leaders in tech and healthcare and learn about Notre Dame’s bold new RISE initiative for human-centered AI.

The world is in a transformative era, with AI revolutionizing industries, reshaping innovation, and unlocking opportunities once thought impossible. Its vast potential inspires optimism for a future where technology drives progress across industries, governments, NGOs, and society as a whole. However, with this promise comes significant responsibility. Concerns over bias, inequitable access, safety vulnerabilities, and ethical uncertainties highlight the urgent need for a guiding framework. RISE (Responsible, Inclusive, Safe and Ethical) AI fulfills this role, ensuring that AI technologies are developed and applied responsibly, inclusively, and ethically.

The RISE AI Conference provides a unique platform to explore how artificial intelligence can be harnessed to tackle complex societal and contemporary challenges while upholding the principles of RISE. The inaugural RISE AI Conference took place from October 6-8, 2025 at the University of Notre Dame, and was hosted by the Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society.

For more information, please visit the RISE AI Conference website.

Meet the Faculty: Nitesh Chawla

Nitesh V. Chawla is the Frank M. Freimann Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. He is the Founding Director of the Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society and is the director of the Data, AI, and Computing Strategic Initiative.  He also holds concurrent faculty appointments in the Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics in the College of Science and the Department of Information, Technology, Analytics and Operations in the College of Business.

He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Chawla, who joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2007, is an expert in artificial intelligence, data science, and network science, and is motivated by the question of how technology can advance the common good through interdisciplinary research. As such, his research is not only at the frontier of fundamental methods and algorithms but is also making interdisciplinary and translational advances for societal impact.

Chawla is the recipient of multiple awards for research and teaching innovation including Outstanding Teacher Awards at Notre Dame, a National Academy of Engineers New Faculty Fellowship, and a number of best paper awards and nominations. He also is the recipient of the 2015 IEEE CIS Outstanding Early Career Award; the IBM Watson Faculty Award; the IBM Big Data and Analytics Faculty Award; and the 1st Source Bank Technology Commercialization Award.

In recognition of the societal and community driven impact of his research, Chawla was recognized with the Rodney F. Ganey Award and Michiana 40 under 40 honor.  

At Notre Dame, Chawla is also a Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies; the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies; the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies; the Pulte Institute for Global Development; and the Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values.

Chawla is the co-founder of Aunalytics, a data science software and cloud computing company.

Meet the Speaker: Stacy Garret-Ray, M.D.

Stacy Garrett-Ray, MD, MPH, MBA, is Senior Vice President and Chief Community Impact Officer for Ascension nationally. In this role, Dr. Garrett-Ray leads strategies and initiatives to collaboratively address community needs, healthcare access, quality and experiences in addition to convening partnerships to invest in innovative program development to advance health equity and create positive multigenerational impact. A board-certified family physician, Dr. Garrett-Ray previously served as Vice President/Medical Director of the University of Maryland Medical System’s Population Health Services Organization and President of their clinically integrated network. She also served as the medical director of the Baltimore City Cancer Program of University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center which provided free screening, treatment and diagnostic services to low-income residents of Baltimore. 

In 2010, Dr. Garrett-Ray was appointed Deputy Director of Comprehensive Women’s Health for Veterans Health Administration nationally and later held other leadership positions including serving as Deputy Director of the Office of Strategic Integration, Senior Medical Advisor for Healthcare Transformation, and lead of the VA Integrated Health Operating Portfolio nationally. 

She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Richmond; her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine; and her MPH and MBA from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed residency at the University of Maryland where she served as chief resident. 

Dr. Garrett-Ray serves on faculty in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and resides in Maryland with her family.

Meet the Speaker: Tracy Graham '95

Tracy Graham ’95 is the Founder and Managing Principal of Graham Allen Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in investing in, and building, technology and technology-enabled companies. He leverages his long history of successfully acquiring and operating businesses to provide strategic and operational support to a growing portfolio of small and middle-market companies. Tracy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame and attended the Indiana University Graduate School of Education. He also has a long history of community service, currently serving on the boards of 1st Source Bank, Beacon Health System, Davenport University, the Regional Development Authority of Northern Indiana’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Meet the Speaker: President Emeritus Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., is the President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame.

Elected in 2005 as the University of Notre Dame’s 17th president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., served four terms in his position before stepping down in May 2024.

As president, he devoted himself to fostering the University’s unique place in academia, the Church, the United States, and the world.

Father Jenkins has been committed to combining teaching and research excellence with a cultivation of the deeper purposes of Catholic higher education. While pursuing academic distinction, he brought renewed emphasis to Notre Dame’s distinctive mission, rooted in the tradition of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the University’s founding community, to educate the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—to do good in the world.

These commitments were made manifest in the University’s dedication to excellence in undergraduate education in the classroom and beyond, while simultaneously building a reputation as a preeminent global research institution—all in the context of Notre Dame’s Catholic identity. In his inaugural address in 2005, Father Jenkins articulated the vision that Notre Dame would be “one of the preeminent research institutions in the world, a center for learning whose intellectual and religious traditions converge to make it a healing, unifying, enlightening force for a world deeply in need.”

In 2023, under Father Jenkins’ leadership, the University was invited to join the Association of American Universities, a consortium of the nation’s leading public and private research universities, making it the only religiously-affiliated university in the nation to be so honored. In 2022, the University attracted more than $281 million in external research funding and is among the fastest-growing research universities in the U.S.

Recognizing the high cost of education, the University has dramatically increased financial aid over the past 15 years, meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need for every student. The University provides more than $200 million in aid for undergraduates, a number which doubled in the past decade, with 60% of all students receiving aid.

In his final decade as president, Notre Dame, in partnership with local civic and industry leaders, played a leading role in a regional strategy that has secured over $130 million in grants for economic development activities, leading to unprecedented investments in research facilities, workforce development programs, new transit connections, cultural amenities, and housing in the region.

Within the University and beyond, Father Jenkins called for civil discourse— grounded in the Christian view of others as equally made in the image of God—as a way to find common ground rather than demonize those with different opinions. In a speech at Emory University in 2011, he said, “If we choose to attack our opponents before we have taken the time to understand them, if we prefer denunciations to genuine dialogue, if we seek political victory rather than constructive compromise … we will not be able to find solutions to the problems before us.”

A philosopher trained in theology and a member of Notre Dame’s Department of Philosophy since 1990, Father Jenkins earned undergraduate and advanced degrees from Notre Dame, a doctorate of philosophy from Oxford University, and a master of divinity and licentiate in sacred theology from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

Meet the Speaker: Robyn Kress

Robyn Kress joined Ascension in 2021 to establish the Ascension Foundation, bringing more than 20 years experience in fundraising, donor relationships and insight about making impactful change to this new endeavor. A nationally sought after philanthropy expert, Robyn led marketing and event agencies, advising and supporting executive leaders and fundraising teams at elite organizations including Harvard Business School, Duke University, the Smithsonian Institution, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to inspire high level giving for $1 billion+ fundraising campaigns. 

Earlier roles in the financial industry and as an in-house campaign leader at two major research universities inspired Robyn to focus her professional efforts on the role that private philanthropy plays in sparking innovative solutions that more quickly create positive change for people, families, and communities. Today, under her leadership, the Foundation pursues the vital work of addressing entrenched problems that diminish health in the United States – including stemming the U.S. maternal mortality crisis and working to create a strong pipeline of future healthcare professionals to improve outcomes for all. 

A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Robyn holds a Professional Certificate of Fundraising Management from Goucher College and an Executive Certificate of Healthcare Management from Yale University.

Meet the Faculty: John T. McGreevy '86

John T. McGreevy ’86 began his tenure as the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost of the University of Notre Dame on July 1, 2022, the sixth provost at Notre Dame since the position was established in 1970. The University’s second-ranking officer, the provost is elected by the Board of Trustees and, at the direction of the president, exercises overall responsibility for the academic enterprise.

A graduate of Notre Dame, McGreevy is an acclaimed historian, with a focus on both American and global religion and politics. He is the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University and recently taught courses on U.S. political history and global Catholicism. He served as the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters from 2008 to 2018.

“Notre Dame’s aspiration to become one of the world’s leading research universities while sustaining and deepening its Catholic identity is one of the most exciting projects in global higher education,” McGreevy said when his appointment was announced. “Given the many challenges we face in our nation, the Church, and the world, this project has never been more important. I am honored to assist in this effort and look forward to working with faculty, staff, and students to advance the work of Notre Dame.”

He has authored four books that explore the people and the impact of the Catholic Church—the most recent of which, Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis, was published by W.W. Norton and released in September 2022. His essays have been translated into Italian, French, and Spanish, and his articles and reviews have appeared in the Journal of American History, New York Review of Books, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Commonweal, The New Republic, Chicago Tribune, and other publications. He is also one of 12 historians to participate in God in America, an award-winning, six-part PBS documentary on American religious history that first aired in October 2010.

During his two terms as dean of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters, McGreevy advanced the college in multiple ways, including significantly strengthening the Department of Economics and other areas of the social sciences; increasing the number of Arts and Letters majors writing a senior thesis by more than 30 percent, which in turn has led to more undergraduate research; introducing the nationally recognized 5+1 Postdoctoral Fellowship Program giving students who finish their doctoral degree in five years one year of postdoctoral funding; starting new doctoral degree programs in Spanish, Italian, anthropology, and sacred music; expanding programs and departments in the arts; enhancing existing elite programs in the humanities; growing the Institute for Latino Studies; and creating more interdisciplinary curricula across the University, including a major in neuroscience and minors in computing and digital technologies and business economics. In addition, he served as co-chair of the University’s most recent core curriculum review.

McGreevy has received major fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Louisville Institute, and the Erasmus Institute. He served on the 2010 jury for the Pulitzer Prize for History and was co-chair of the Commonweal Foundation board from 2018–2023. He has received several awards for his teaching and research, including the 2015 George E. Ganss, S.J., Award for scholarly work in Jesuit studies from the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College and Notre Dame’s Kaneb Teaching Award for his influence on the undergraduate learning experience. In 2004, he was honored as a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians.

A Phi Beta Kappa member and magna cum laude graduate from Notre Dame in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in history, McGreevy earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in history from Stanford University. He also taught at Hales Franciscan High School in Chicago. Following his doctoral degree, he completed a Lilly Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in humanities at Valparaiso University before joining the faculty at Harvard University. At Harvard, he was the Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History and History and Literature. He returned to Notre Dame in 1997.

He is married to Jean McManus, a librarian in Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Libraries. They are the parents of four children.

Meet the Speaker: Martin W. “Marty” Rodgers

Martin W. “Marty” Rodgers was elected to the University of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees in June 2022. Rodgers served previously as a voting Trustee and Fellow, and then as a Hesburgh Trustee. Rodgers lead Accenture’s U.S. Health and Public Service Client Group and serves on the firm’s Global Management Committee. Rodgers worked on Capitol Hill prior to joining Accenture and helped write several successful pieces of legislation, including the creation of AmeriCorps and making the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday into a national day of service. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard. He was a member of the University’s Trustee Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which issued its report in 2021.