The Notre Dame Sponsorship Transition

Transition Completed as Board Hires New President

Father John P. Smyth Named President of Notre Dame High School
February 16, 2007

The Executive Board of Notre Dame High School for Young Men in Niles, IL has named Father John P. Smyth the school’s first president under its new governance structure. A Chicago native, Father Smyth is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. He was chosen after an open search for candidates to lead the 52-year-old school and will assume office March 1, 2007

“We are very pleased that we could attract Father Smyth to Notre Dame,” said Joseph Gurdak, Executive Board Chair. “His ties to Notre Dame go back many years and his fresh ideas for the Catholic education of young men made him the logical choice to lead the school.”

Father Smyth, 72, has worked solely in youth ministry since his ordination in 1962. He directed Maryville Academy, a social service agency of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, for four decades. During that time, many Maryville residents received their high school education at Notre Dame.

“I am excited by the possibilities for a new Notre Dame,” said Father Smyth. “I believe educating young men in an atmosphere of individual attention and academic excellence will produce a new generation of thoughtful, ethical leaders.”

Notre Dame is the first school in the Archdiocese to use a model of lay leadership called the Association of the Christian Faithful. The Catholicity of the school will be assured through its relationship to this Canon Law structure. The members of the Association are appointed by Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago. The school itself is an Illinois 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to the Archdiocese, particularly Cardinal George,” said Gurdak. “Without his direct intervention and continued support, the Notre Dame story would have ended very differently. Clearly the nearly 800 young men we serve, the 11,500 alumni and their families should be as thrilled by our future as they have been inspired by our past.”