WAUKEGAN, Ill. (Aug. 18, 2003) – St. Martin de Porres High School, the first new Catholic high school in Lake County 40 years, today announced it has named R.J. McMahon as its first president. The school also announced the formation of its board of trustees. St. Martin de Porres is a four-year college preparatory high school modeled on the highly successful Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood in which students participate in a corporate internship program to help defray the cost of tuition.

McMahon, a resident of River Forest, Ill., and a graduate of Boston College and Loyola University’s MBA program, is himself a graduate of Chicago-area Catholic elementary and secondary schools; he attended St. Luke School in River Forest and Fenwick High School in Oak Park. He is an adjunct professor of business at Dominican University in River Forest, and is formerly executive vice president of development for Central Baptist Family Services of Chicago.

As president and principal staff officer of the new school, McMahon will lead St. Martin de Porres’ faculty, staff and students in preparing for the school’s August, 2004 opening in the former Social Security building at Genesee and Washington streets in downtown Waukegan. He will work closely with the school’s board of trustees to create liaisons with the community, work with businesses participating in the school’s novel Corporate Internship Program and foster continued philanthropic support for the school as it consolidates and expands its services to students and families in northern Lake County.

The school is currently funded by major grants from the B.J. Cassin Educational Initiative of Menlo Park, Calif., and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle.

The Rev. George J. Rassas, pastor of St. Mary’s parish in Lake Forest, Ill., will chair the school’s first board of trustees. Other officers of the board are retired businessman Robert Daily, vice chair; educational consultant Marilyn Schnitz, secretary; and Clarke Smith, former executive vice president of Aerial Communications, treasurer. Members of the board of trustees include: Dan Antosz, principal of Immaculate Conception School, Waukegan, Ill.; the Rev. Charles Bolser, CSV, provincial of the Clerics of St. Viator; Joan Bransfield, former principal of the School of St. Mary, Lake Forest, Ill.; Rafael Carreira, vice president of development, The John Buck Company; Angel Figueroa, principal, North School, Waukegan, Ill.; James Foley, vice president, Elder Care Options, Ltd.; Sr. Mary Ellen Green, OP, prioress provincial, Sinsinawa Dominican Eastern Province; Br. William Hallas, CR, director of development, Gordon Tech High School; Michelle Hans, manager, merchandise research, Walgreen Co.; Thomas Hutch, research microbiologist, Illinois Institute of Technology; Frank Kreuz, retired director, Allstate Insurance Co.; Walter Kroll, chairman, North Shore Trust and Savings; Daniel Lydon, assistant principal, St. Viator High School; Michael McGowan, partner, O’Hagan, Smith and Amundsen; John Meierhoff, president, Lake Forest Bank & Trust; Sr. Jean O’Meara of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus; Martin Paulson, assistant chief county assessment officer, Lake County; Rev. Frank Plotka, pastor, Immaculate Conception Parish, Waukegan, Ill.; Rosa Reyes-Prosen, project coordinator, NICASA; Jim Ross, prevocational coordinator, Special Education District of Lake County; Rev. Paul Sims, CR, dean of students, Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary, Chicago; Lake County Recorder of Deeds Maryellen Vanderventer; and Sr. Collette Mary White, OP, vicaress provincial, Sinsinawa Dominican Eastern Province.

St. Martin de Porres High School will open with the endorsement of five sponsoring religious organizations: the American Province of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, the Clerics of St. Viator, the Congregation of the Resurrection, the Parish of St. Mary, Lake Forest, Ill., and the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation of the Most Holy Rosary.