The Dr. William P. Sexton Award - 2020: Timothy F. and Martha H. Sutherland
Timothy F. and Martha H. Sutherland
Timothy and Martha Sutherland are presented with this award in recognition of their outstanding commitment to the University and its pursuit of fostering entrepreneurship, and for their generosity in establishing the Sutherland Ring Fund.
Tim, the chairman of Middleburg Capital Development, holds a B.A. from Knox College and an M.B.A. from New York University. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Notre Dame since 2012 and was elected a Fellow of the University in 2014. In addition, Tim has served on the Mendoza College of Business Advisory Council and Gigot Center Advisory Board, and has impacted students directly through course presentations and individual mentorship. Tim remains one of the University’s biggest proponents of entrepreneurship since the founding of the Gigot Center and the building of Innovation Park. Recently, he dedicated significant time acting as one of the architects for the creation of the IDEA Center, the University’s center for commercialization and entrepreneurship.
To further support their belief that the University’s first priority is its students, Tim and Marti established the Sutherland Ring Fund, an initiative designed to help support students in need afford a class ring, something they strongly believe each Notre Dame student deserves to don upon graduation.
The Sutherlands live in Middleburg, Virginia, and have two grown children, Cristin Sutherland Wipfler ’02 and David M. Sutherland ’07, ’10 M.B.A. They love their four grandchildren, Liam and Olivia Wipfler, and Lillian and Connor Sutherland.
“Notre Dame is a community that enables each of us to transcend the often-cited profession of ‘believing’ in God to truly ‘knowing’ Him and His existence,” Tim Sutherland said. “The energy and dialogue of our ND community is unique. The shared faith, conversation, and familial commitment allows the world to see us as different, attractive, successful, purposeful, and happy.”