Nathan Hatch, provost and Andrew V. Tackes Professor of History at Notre Dame, is one of 12 leading figures featured in the latest issue of "Vital Speeches of the Day."

Published twice monthly, "Vital Speeches of the Day" provides "the best thoughts of the best minds on current national problems." Others featured in the Aug. 15 issue include Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, Samuel "Sandy" Berger, assistant to the president for national security affairs, and Sergei Vladimovich Stepashin, the prime minister of Russia.

Hatch's speech was delivered May 16 at the spring commencement exercises of Wheaton College in Illinois. A summa cum laude graduate of Wheaton, Hatch told the 1999 graduates: "Success rarely quenches ambition's thirst. Benjamin Franklin, an ambitious man if ever there was one, once noted that ambition never has the good fortune to satisfy us. Its appetite grows keener by indulgence. Two of the most famous people I know seem to hunger for achievement and recognition after they have made it to the top. To me it seemed odd, and sad, that after all their well-deserved achievements, they could not simply relax and revel in all that had been accomplished. Being driven to succeed often stems from a desire for belonging and appreciation."

An excerpt of Hatch's remarks was also published in The New York Times' annual compilation of outstanding commencement speeches.

One of the most influential scholars in the study of the history of religion in America, Hatch is now in his fourth year as Notre Dame's provost and 24th year on the faculty. He graduated from Wheaton in 1968.

and earned his masters and doctoral degrees from Washington University in St. Louis.

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