Founded by a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross in 1842, the University of Notre Dame is a national Catholic research university with impressive achievements. The Indiana school is highly competitive, and graduates of the University of Notre Dame have excelled in chief executive and other leadership positions in major U.S. companies. As the first American Catholic institution of higher learning to establish programs in law, engineering, and architecture, Notre Dame is also one of the top three U.S. universities in low-energy nuclear physics research. The University of Notre Dame shares a selection of its world class courses through OpenCourseWare, a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners throughout the world.