The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has awarded Nathan Gunn with the Swanlund Endowed Chair, the highest honor the University can
bestow upon its faculty. A South Bend native and alumnus of the University of Illinois, Nathan is currently artist-in-residence at Notre Dame and, at Illinois, a professor of voice and the General Director of the Lyric Theatre @ Illinois. The Swanlund Endowed Chair honors Nathan for his dedication to the University of Illinois and for his exceptional contributions to the fields of classical music and the performing arts. The award is made possible by a generous gift from alumna Maybelle Leland Swanlund, whose endowment exists to attract world-class leaders in the arts and sciences to the University of Illinois.
Gunn began his artist residency at Notre Dame in the Fall of 2014. He visits campus each semester to teach voice students, supervise full-cast rehearsals of Opera ND, guest lecture in academic courses, lead masterclasses, and participate with ND faculty in public colloquia. He also frequently performs on campus and plans are underway to present him in concert in the Department's new home, O'Neill Hall, during academic year 2018-19.