It started as a business relationship: one organization needing a service, the other providing it. When Notre Dame University realized it needed to improve its student print processes and better manage information, it consulted Xerox for a solution. It was then that Jerry Murray, a Notre Dame alum and vice president of product marketing for Xerox production systems, teamed up with a co-worker and fellow Notre Dame alum, to create a student print network for the university.

While Murray and his co-worker were working on the project, they explored new concepts and discovered an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between Xerox and Notre Dame. “Our first effort beyond helping them with the student print network was to look at what Notre Dame stands for and what Xerox stands for,” Murray says. “We thought there were some synergies of interest between the two organizations. Both have a mutual commitment to excellence, globalization and diversity.”

As this partnership was coming together, Xerox took a closer look at the university’s programs and saw that the engineering school was trying to increase and retain the number of women in engineering. To support the program’s goals and to show its commitment to diversity and education, Xerox established a scholarship program for women engineers at Notre Dame. “We worked with the Xerox Foundation and with the university, and we began providing scholarships on an annual basis,” Murray says. “The relationship started to build.”

As Xerox and Notre Dame developed the scholarship program, Xerox also wanted to further its educational commitment to the university. In addition to supporting students through school, Xerox set up recruitment activities at Notre Dame. Through its career center, Xerox posts job and internship opportunities. “We recruit both engineering and business students from the university,” Murray says. “This is one of the key places that we do recruit from.”

Beyond working directly with students, Xerox management team members serve on advisory boards at Notre Dame. Both Quincy Allen, president of Xerox production systems group, and Mark Enzien, vice president, Platform Development Unit, have served on the Engineering School’s Advisory Board. By growing the relationship in this way, the organizations were able to identify some potential research projects to work on together. “We haven’t done research with Notre Dame before, but now we’re exploring that,” Murray says.

Although the relationship is strong today, it took a lot of time and effort to build — it’s a relationship of more than 10 years. “These are things that might not happen when you’re just about business,” Murray says. “It is the power of building partnerships and relationships with the strengths of different organizations. It’s an extended partnership. It’s managing the relationship; both sides contribute to each other. That relationship grows, and more synergies evolve.”

This article is the first in two-part series. Read the second part, “Career Path”

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