Michael Infantine, Staff Writer

 

Editor’s note: This article is part of a series of interviews with men and women in the Notre Dame community who have responded to God’s call to holiness in different ways. Here, Dean of the College of Engineering, Peter Kilpatrick, shares his own vocational journey as well as advice for discerning God’s call.

How would you describe vocation in a general sense?

As your readers probably know, the word vocation has its origins in the Latin vocare, which has the meaning “to call.” My understanding of vocation is to try and discern what God has called us to, or more generally, what His will is for our lives. I think each of us has many vocations because of our commitments in life. For example, because I am a baptized Christian, my most important vocation is as God’s adopted son and all that entails, e.g. the universal call to holiness and the apostolate. Because I am married, I have a vocation as husband for my wife Nancy, and all that entails—trying to help her accept God’s salvific will in her life. I also have four children, a son and a daughter-in-law, a granddaughter and two grandchildren in the womb. So I have a vocation there as father and grandfather and all that entails. And finally, I have a vocation through my profession, and in particular, through my decision to pursue my profession at a Catholic university.

Describe your role as dean of the College of Engineering.

Being a dean of the College of Engineering has dimensions of both management and leadership. As the “Chief Executive Officer” of an organization with more than 2,000 students, 140 faculty and more than 80 staff, I am responsible for all academic and operational issues within the College. Of course, I have an outstanding team. I am answerable to them as well as to the Provost and the President. The College of Engineering has been blessed with tremendous growth in the last several years due to nationwide demand for the profession and strong recruitment of engineering intents here at Notre Dame. On a day-to-day basis, I work a lot on fund-raising, strategizing and encouraging our team.

Engineering is not typically associated with the Church or vocations. How do you see engineering as fitting into the larger mission of the Church as a whole?

It is a shame that Engineering is not typically associated with the Church or vocations because I think Engineering has as much or more to offer the work of the Church and her mission as any discipline. Jesus says clearly that the two greatest commandments are “love God and love thy neighbor” and St. Francis says that the best way to preach the Gospel is through doing. With a world so deeply in need of what engineers have to offer—food, clothing, electricity, clean water, security—I would make the case that engineering is an excellent profession within which to serve humanity and fulfill our Christian vocation to love our neighbor.

What is your personal vocation story? What steps led you to where you are now?

I wish I could say that there was a moment in my life in which God “gave me a vocation,” but that would not be true. Looking back at my life, I believe God has been leading and I have more or less followed, sometimes without really knowing I was. I believe this is not uncommon. I think God is very gentle with us and never asks us to sacrifice our will or freedom and only asks difficult things of us if we invite him to. The major steps in my life have been falling in love with and marrying my wife at age 22, converting and becoming Catholic at age 25, and going on retreat at age 42 to a Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. There have been many other baby steps and God has been there at each one, faithful and caring.

What led you to Notre Dame?

I was contacted by a search firm who was given my name because my daughter had expressed interest in Notre Dame as a university. So in some sense, I am a trailing parent. After being asked to consider coming to Notre Dame as Dean of Engineering, I went through a process of discernment. Would this move be good for my family? And is this what God is asking of me? When I was convinced I could say “yes” to both, I accepted the offer.

How has your conception of vocation changed over time?

Again, I think God leads everyone in a gentle way, whether we realize it or not. Scott Hahn, theology professor at Franciscan University, talks about the concept of concursus—the notion of God wooing our wills while we at the same time are free to exercise our wills. So I think the more open we are to the Spirit of God leading us, the closer we come to fulfilling our vocation. My conception has largely changed into thinking that the spectrum of human responses to vocation or calling is really a continuum, rather than black and white.

Do you have any advice for young people discerning their vocations?

Be open to God’s love for you. The revelation of God clearly suggests that every good thing we do comes from God, and the only way we are able to love is that God loved us first. He loved us into being, he loved us to sustain us, to give us all of our gifts. So my main advice would be to relish that love God has for us, bask in it and allow it to be a source of direction and comfort for us.

Michael Infantine is a sophomore studying PLS who hasn’t shampooed his hair in about a week because his last bottle ran out, and buying some more would mean walking across campus in the cold. If you’d like to deliver him some, you can contact him at minfanti@nd.edu.