The Ultimate Domer

In thoroughbred racing, the Triple Crown is a rare feat, accomplished only by those jockeys, owners, and trainers who’ve demonstrated an unrivaled commitment to excellence and a passion for the sport. In the realm of higher education, earning three degrees from one university can be compared to the Triple Crown, achieved by a small percentage of college graduates, and only by those who have committed themselves to the institution. Tracy Kijewski-Correa ’97, ’00 M.S., ’03 Ph.D., is one of the select few in this elite class of college graduates. Not only is Professor Kijewski-Correa a Triple Domer, but she also is associate chair and associate professor in the College of Engineering.

Kijewski-Correa came to ND as an undergraduate student in the fall of 1993. At that time, she explains, many students wavered with their college plans, often switching majors several times before settling in. From her first days at ND however, Kijewski-Correa was focused on engineering. “I noticed a love of math and science and story problems—taking apart things and fixing them as a kid,” she says. “I think I just had a natural calling for it.”

Like many Domers, Kijewski-Correa spent time as an undergraduate working in the dining halls on campus. She was working in South Dining Hall when her structural analysis professor, Dr. Ahsan Kareem, asked her if she wanted to do research with him. “He told me I was wasting my talent making pizzas, and asked if I wanted to work in his lab,” Kijewski-Correa says.

She spent two years conducting research with Professor Kareem, in which she focused on the wind effects on flexible structures, and how these influenced worldwide building codes and standards. “If he had not talked to me and asked me to do research, I don’t know if I would be sitting here today,” Kijewski-Correa says. “I’m forever grateful for that moment, and the fact that he picked me out of a room full of students.”

Kijewski-Correa’s heart always was set on becoming an engineer, and she grew up with a natural love for teaching, however she wasn’t always sure if education was the career path she wanted to follow. Growing up outside of Chicago, she witnessed the hardships that teachers dealt with on a daily basis—poor student behavior and even gang violence, marred her vision of becoming a teacher. At times, she even felt guilty that she was unwilling to make the sacrifice that a lot of her great teachers had made in dealing with these issues.

“Early on, I had just crossed teaching out of my mind,” Kijewski-Correa says. “I wanted to become an engineer, and I never thought there was a career opportunity that could marry the two options.”

While conducting undergraduate research with Professor Kareem, however, Kijewski-Correa realized that the combination of teaching and engineering was still a possibility, and that she could have the best of both worlds.

“I realized I could still be an engineer and conduct research that was relevant and practical, but at the same time, I could be an educator in a setting where I could focus more on educating the students who really wanted to learn,” she says.

After graduating magna cum laude from ND with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Kijewski-Correa decided to return to South Bend to begin working on her master’s. Because of her undergraduate research, she realized that Notre Dame would offer opportunities that many other schools in this region would be unable to provide, despite their high rankings for graduate engineering programs. Kijewski-Correa, who focuses on the structure of tall buildings, also explained that ND’s proximity to—and connections with—her hometown Chicago factored into her decision to return to Notre Dame.

Upon completing her master’s, Kijewski-Correa once again decided on ND in her pursuit of a doctorate degree. The small class sizes she had experienced as an undergraduate helped facilitate her learning and fuel her desire to become a professor.

After earning a Ph.D., several teaching opportunities were on the horizon, but Kijewski-Correa settled on Notre Dame “knowing this place is so intimate, and that you have so much opportunity to be an influence on students and to impact them directly,” she says. At larger schools, she explains, students may be “just a list of social security numbers on a roster.” Here at ND, she knew she would be able to engage undergraduates in research and have an impact on their lives. In addition, her Catholic faith and “tremendous love for the University” factored into her decision to remain with ND.

For many new professors, the transition to teaching can be difficult. “When you are in graduate school, you get very little training on how to be a professor, how to advise students, and how to run a class because you spend all of your time on research,” says Kijewski-Correa.

This transition in her career was made easier due to the fact that she had been through the residence hall system and was familiar with ND student life. She even was able to teach some of the classes she had taken as a student. “It was great to have an opportunity to dig up those old notes and resurrect the classes and revamp them in a new way,” Kijewski-Correa says.

Not everything about becoming a professor at her alma mater was easy, however. She recalls it being difficult to call colleagues by their first name, and to view them as peers and friends rather than mentors and professors. “It can be intimidating to make that leap just because you have a piece of paper that says, ‘Ph.D.’ on it,” Kijewski-Correa says.

Professor Tracy Kijewski-Correa has come a long way since arriving at ND in 1993. From her early days as a freshman in which she struggled to fit in, she continued on to earn three degrees from Notre Dame, securing her place in a select group of ND graduates. Now, she educates those students who sit in the same places where she once learned, shaping tomorrow’s leaders and perhaps planting the seed for another young undergraduate to follow in her footsteps and become a Triple Domer.