National Football Foundation

Father Theodore Hesburgh and Father Joyce arrived at Notre Dame together in 1952 and served as the school’s president and vice-president, respectively, for 35 years. After graduating from Notre Dame, Joyce worked eight years in accounting before entering the seminary. In 1945, he entered Holy Cross College in Washington, D.C., and was ordained into the priesthood in 1949. It was then that he returned to his alma mater as the assistant vice-president of business affairs, and by 1952, he had climbed to the post of executive vice-president.

He played a vital role in the Notre Dame athletic program, bringing the Irish back into the bowl game limelight after a 45-year postseason hiatus. In their first bowl game since 1925, Notre Dame lost to the Texas Longhorns in the 1970 Cotton Bowl, 27-10. Joyce was also instrumental in the formation of the College Football Association, an alliance of 64 schools that helped negotiate television contracts, which disbanded in 1997. Joyce passed away in the spring of 2004 at the age of 87.