This annual award will be given to a young alumnus of the IT, Analytics, and Operations department, Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. The recipient of this award is identified as someone who has achieved early success in his or her career, sometimes taking an unusual path, and exemplifies the can-do attitude that Zac brought to his work.
John Lalor was described by the ND faculty and staff as the “perfect inaugural winner”. John was an ND rugby player and graduate of the ITAO program in 2011, earning the same degree that Zac went on to complete a few years later. John joined KMPG as a consultant after graduation, then finished a master’s in Computer Science at DePaul while working for a software development company in Chicago. He later completed his Ph.D. and re-joined the ITAO department at the University of Notre Dame in 2019. Like Zac, John’s career path is unique but demonstrates a passion for serving others, and a drive for excellence.
“We were thrilled to get John on our faculty and he is an overachiever in every aspect of his job. The Zac Plantz Memorial Achievement Award was created to honor Zac because he had a lasting impact on the faculty and staff in the ITAO department. Zac always got the job done, and was fun to have in class. He was the kind of guy that we all knew would be successful.” – Dr. Corey Angst, University of Notre Dame.
