The Norman and Elaine Jenkins Library Endowment in Business was established in 1976 by the late Norman B. Jenkins, who was once a pre-college student at Notre Dame. Norman established the Vortex Oil and Gas Corporation in Richmond, Indiana and served as president for many corporations, including the United Oil and Gas Corporation. Norman and his wife, Elaine, were blessed with five children—Thomas, Terrence, Rodger (’60), Patricia, and Timothy (’63).

The Jenkins Endowment supports the growth of the Hesburgh Libraries by enhancing the reference collection in business and underwriting the multimedia Newsbank Business Supplement, a tool widely used by faculty and students of the Mendoza College of Business. The fund is essential in securing research-oriented databases such as Audit Analytics and RiskMetrics and has also filled in missing volumes in sets such as Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management from the JAI Press. Additionally, the endowment provides for collection development in unexpected hot topic areas when new research initiatives are undertaken by individual scholars, groups, or departments.