G-Prep’s Principal Named First Lay President Traynor, Former U-High Teacher, Will Oversee School’s Finances

John Traynor, principal of Gonzaga Preparatory School since 1989, will become the Jesuit high school’s first lay president July 1.

Traynor will succeed the Rev. Richard Case, 53, president since 1989. Gonzaga Prep will be the first Jesuit high school in the country with a lay president, Case said.

As president, Traynor, 54, will report to the school board and oversee the school’s finances, fund-raising and long-range planning.

“More important is the responsibility for maintaining the spiritual identity and health of the school,” Traynor said.

Traynor recently applied for the principal’s post at University High School in the Central Valley School District.

He had been a junior high principal in that district for three years and had taught at U-High 18 years.

“I was looking for a different challenge. I had applied and was included in a list of finalists when this whole development came at Prep,” he said.

The presidency offer was unrelated to his application at University High, Traynor said.

Gonzaga Prep’s enrollment climbed from 800 to 950 during Traynor and Case’s tenures, due largely to the Fair Share tuition program. The program, which began in 1991, allows families to pay tuition according to their income.

Case will take next year as a sabbatical in preparation for further service within the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, which owns the school.