Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School named Clement V. Martin, a Catholic school leader and educator, as its next president, according to a release from the school.
On July 1, Martin will become the school’s second president, replacing Christ the King’s founding leader, the Rev. Christopher J. Devron, S.J.
Devron came to Chicago to help establish Christ the King six years ago. He will return to the New York Province of the Society of Jesus in his new role as president of Fordham Preparatory School in Bronx, N.Y.
According to a Christ the King press release, Martin is described as “an experienced Catholic school leader” who has “demonstrated a commitment to social justice and helped create access to quality, educational opportunities for under-served students.”
Martin served as the executive director of Cicero Catholic Schools. While there, he reportedly built a reputation as a “mission-driven educator focused on expanding school enrollment.”
Educated in the Jesuit tradition at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., Martin is “deeply motivated to extend Christ the King’s mission to a growing number of students,” the statement from the school reads.
“We are thrilled to welcome Clem Martin as the new president of Christ the King, and we are confident that he will carry on Father Devron’s efforts and legacy of passion and success in educating students on the West Side of Chicago,” Scott Murray, chairman of Christ the King’s board of directors, said in a statement. “Personally impacted by the values of his own Jesuit education, Clem brings an appreciation of the Cristo Rey model, experience in both education and business, and a record of exemplary school leadership.”
Prior to his current role as executive director, Martin served as principal of Our Lady of Charity and St. Frances of Rome in Cicero. His background includes working as a classroom teacher in mathematics and religion.
“I am deeply honored to join Christ the King’s Jesuit, Cristo Rey mission to educate students on Chicago’s West Side,” Martin said in the statement. “I am eager to become part of Christ the King’s pioneering vision and mission that is transforming the lives and futures of so many young people, and I am excited to contribute to the innovative Cristo Rey model in which high school students have the opportunity to earn their tuition while gaining valuable, on-the-job experience through the Corporate Work Study Program. I look forward to helping (the school) grow its mission and expand its effort to educate more deserving students.”
Martin and his family — wife, Norma, a first grade Chicago public school teacher, and children Clemente, Mateo and Itzel, who all attend Catholic schools — reside in Chicago.
Christ the King graduated its first senior class last summer.
