JCA announces inaugural Hall of Champions: Business & Industry Class

JCA president/principal Dr. Jeffrey Budz is pleased to announce the inaugural Hall of Champions: Business & Industry. The Hall of Champions for athletics has become a staple in the JCA community, honoring past Angels and Hilltoppers for their accomplishments both on and off the field. Inductees includes Joliet area legends Gordie Gillespie, Mike Alstott, and Tom Thayer.

The mission of the Hall of Champions: Business & Industry is to honor SFA, JCHS, and JCA graduates for their accomplishments throughout their professional careers ranging from medicine, law, education, entertainment, business, technology, and more. With over 23,000 alumni and counting, the lessons instilled by both the Carmelites and Franciscans over JCA’s 149-year history of Catholic education in the Joliet community has consistently cultivated leaders that have produced a world-wide impact.

Dr. Budz said, “this year’s honorees represent the character, integrity, passion, hard work, compassion, and wisdom that make Joliet Catholic Academy one of the premier institutions across the state and nation.  We want to thank them so much for all they do to make JCA a better place. We are indebted to their leadership and kindness towards our institution.”

This year’s honorees will be inducted at an all-school mass in celebration of Catholic Schools Week on Friday, February 2, 2018 in the JCA Student Activity Center, with an 11:30 a.m. luncheon and induction ceremony to follow.

Congratulations to the inaugural Joliet Catholic Academy Hall of Champions: Business & Industry:

Mr. Paul Arling (’81)
Joliet Catholic High School

B.S. (’85) and MBA (’92) from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Management consultant for the Michael Allen Company (’85-’91)

CFO and Board Member of a public company in 1996 at age 33.

President of Universal Electronics in 1998; CEO in 200; Chairman in 2001.

Led UEI from a market cap of $30 million to a valuation of over $1 billion during tenure.

Named to Crain’s 40 under 40 in 1996; OC Tech Alliance CEO of the Year 2015.

Won Emmy for Contextual Voice Navigation for Discovering and Interacting with TV Content in 2017.

Named inventor on 91 patents.

The Hon. Robert M. Dow, Jr. (’83)
Joliet Catholic High School

Valedictorian and Hillman of the Year JCHS 1983.
Graduated summa cum laude from Yale University (’87).

Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University; MBA in International Relations (’90).
Graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School (’93).

Doctorate in International Relations from Oxford University (’97).

Former law clerk in the United States Court of Appeals in Chicago; former associate and partner at Mayer Brown LLP.

Current Judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2007-present).

Mrs. Sally (Nolan) Giegerich (’86)
St. Francis Academy

Graduated with a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; MBA in Finance DePaul University.

Certified Private Wealth Advisor®; member of the CFA Institute, CFA Society of Chicago, and the Investments and Wealth Institute.

Past Chair of the Board of Directors of Joliet Catholic Academy; currently sits on the JCA Investment Committee.

Founded and leads a networking group to promote female participation in the investment industry.

Current Senior Vice President within the Global Family and Investment Offices group at Northern Trust.

Mr. Thomas Kennedy (‘83)
Joliet Catholic High School

Undergraduate degree in Economics from Tulane University (’87); Three-year letterman in swimming.

MBA Harvard University (’92).
Former CFO of Vanguard Car Rental; Former CFO of Hilton Worldwide; current CFO of Hertz Global Holdings.

Named one of 40 under 40 finance professionals in Treasury and Risk Magazine in 2003.
Named one of the top 100 business leaders in Irish America Magazine in 2007.

Former member of CNBC CFO council and has been featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal’s CFO Journal.

Mrs. Lynne Scheffler (’85)
St. Francis Academy

2010 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Principal.

2011 JCA Career Achievement Award.

2016 NCEA Lead. Learn. Proclaim. Distinguished Principal Award.

2016 NAESP Distinguished Principal of Illinois.

Current Principal at St. Joseph Lockport Catholic Grade School leading children closer to Christ.


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