Saint Ignatius Sesquicentennial

Fr. Michael P. Caruso, SJ is the current President of Saint Ignatius College Prep in Chicago.  He is starting his tenth year at Saint Ignatius. Fr. Caruso is a distinguished scholar and educator.  Prior to his arrival at Saint Ignatius, Fr. Caruso served as the Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership at Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles, CA.  Additionally, he was an Associate Professor of Education with an emphasis in Catholic Administration and his areas of interest include: Catholic School Leadership, Spirituality in Education and the Historic Foundations of Catholic Education.  Fr. Caruso has worked extensively in forming Catholic elementary and high school teachers and administrators in the Diocese of Orange and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, one of the most diverse Catholic school systems in the U.S.

Fr. Caruso was ordained for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri and then entered the Jesuits. Subsequently, he earned his Ed.D. from the Jesuits University of San Francisco in its highly respected Institute of Catholic Educational Leadership. 

Prior to his current position in Los Angeles, Fr. Caruso taught at both DeSmet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, MO and Regis Jesuit High School in Denver, CO.  He also has worked in college campus ministry at Rockhurst Jesuit University in Kansas City, MO

Robert A. (Tony) Harris serves Saint Ignatius College Prep as its Assistant Principal for Student Services.  A native Kentuckian, he grew up in Dayton, Ohio attending Resurrection School and then Archbishop Karl J. Alter High School.  He holds degrees in Economics (B.S) and Secondary Education (M. Ed.) from Vanderbilt University, and Master degrees in English (University of Kansas) and Educational Leadership (Notre Dame).  Tony began  his work in Jesuit education at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati in 1993, and joined Saint Ignatius in 2002.  Starting his fourth year as Assistant Principal, Tony has been a department chair, coach, and interim athletic director at the school.  He, his wife Paula, and their two daughters  relocated to Chicago in 2001, and they call the south side home.

Mary Ann Bergerson Ahern joined NBC5 News in March 1989 and was named Political Reporter in 2006. On the political beat, Ahern has covered political campaigns from the White House to Springfield to Chicago. She witnessed the transition from Mayor Richard Daley to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and traveled through the primary states for the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaign, just as she did in 1988 while a reporter in Atlanta. She has covered presidential election nights from Texas, Boston, and Chicago and has covered presidential inaugurations from Washington, D.C. Her reports on the NBC 5 NEWS and on NBCChicago.com are closely followed locally and nationally.

As well, Ahern follows the political goings on in Springfield and the Illinois delegation in the nation's capital. She's gained recognition for covering the religion beat and has reported from Rome on the selection of Pope Francis, Pope Benedict's farewell and the 2014 canonization of pontiffs John XXIII and John Paul II. Over the years she covered Pope John Paul II's many trips including Cuba and several World Youth Day events. Ahern followed Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s final years, the selection of Cardinal Francis George, the beatification of Mother Teresa, and the Pope’s emergency meeting with the American Cardinals on the priest sex abuse crisis. Ahern not only reports for NBC Chicago, but is often selected to file stories for the NBC affiliates nationwide. Likewise, she is often called on as a panelist for religion media issues. A native of Michigan City, Ind., Ahern graduated with a B.A. degree from John Carroll University in 1976. While working as an English teacher at two Chicago-area high schools, she received her Master's degree in Education from Northeastern Illinois University and another Master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She earned the Peter Lisagor Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Headline Club in 2012.