$25M Gift Launches Notre Dame Performance Institute
Sports technology, health, and research firms in South Bend may find new university partnerships as the institute develops.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Philanthropy
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Pat and Jana Eilers have donated $25 million to the University of Notre Dame to establish the Eilers Family Sports and Human Performance Institute, a partnership between Notre Dame Athletics and the university's academic units. The gift follows an earlier $25 million endowment for the Eilers Family Sports Performance Center in Shields Family Hall.
Why it matters
The institute ties athletics to applied research in data science, neuroscience, and biomechanics, pulling faculty from three colleges into one program. For South Bend operators, it signals how a major university anchors research and talent in the local economy.
The Eilers have now committed $50 million across two university gifts, the second matching the first at $25 million. The institute organizes work across three named research areas: applied data science and AI, neuroscience and mental health, and biomechanics, sensors and equipment.
The players
University of Notre Dame
A private Catholic research university in South Bend, Indiana, known for its major intercollegiate athletics program and research enterprise.
Pat Eilers
Founder and managing partner of Transition Equity Partners LLC, a former two-year Notre Dame football starter and member of the 1988 national championship team.
The details
The institute operates as a partnership rather than a standalone department, linking Notre Dame Athletics with the university's academic units. It builds on existing collaborations among athletics, Notre Dame Research, and faculty in the Colleges of Arts & Letters, Engineering, and Science. Current projects include a study on lowering the risk of reinjury for athletes returning from an ACL tear and a psychology study on reducing the effects of jet lag when teams travel across time zones.
Timeline
2015: The Eilers funded the first endowed assistant coaching position for the football team's defensive back coaches.
Aug. 5: The Eilers endowed the Eilers Family Sports Performance Center in Shields Family Hall with $25 million.
Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026: The Eilers Family Sports and Human Performance Institute was announced in a press release.
Market Landscape
Large private gifts to university athletics programs increasingly fund research and facilities rather than only coaching positions, as the Eilers' sequence of endowments shows. The institute's focus on biomechanics and applied data science places athletics inside the university's broader research funding model.
Operators in South Bend and the surrounding region should note that the university is expanding applied research partnerships that may generate local hiring, sponsored projects, and vendor demand. Businesses in sports technology, sensors, and health services may find new collaboration opportunities as the institute develops.
The takeaway
The gift shows a university athletics program moving toward measurable research output in performance science. Operators in adjacent fields should watch for announced partnerships and grant activity from the institute as a signal of new local opportunities.
Further reading
For more on how private donors shape local institutions, see our Philanthropy coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Observer.
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