Cardinal Mooney elects new president

In January 2017, Mark Oles will become the new President of Cardinal Mooney High School.

Oles, a 2001 Mooney graduate, will join Mooney on Oct. 15., replacing Interim President and Board Chairman Dan Landers, who has led Mooney since July 15, when Rev. Gerald DeLucia left the presidency to return to pastoral work. Landers, a 1975 graduate of Cardinal Mooney, has been Chairman of the Mooney Board since 2014. He is a partner at Landers-Lewis Insurance.

Oles has a long history of service to his parishes and to Cardinal Mooney High School. For his parishes, he has been a parish-transformation leader, finance-council member, young-adult-ministry leader, special-parish-religious-education-for-people-with-disabilities (SPRED) leader and an altar server. For Mooney, Oles created the Jamie Serich Memorial Scholarship, which distributed $94,000 since 2010 to benefit Cardinal Mooney and Lumen Christi students. He has financially supported multiple families by providing tuition assistance, was a speaker at a football playoff rally, maintained relationships with alumni across a broad spectrum of graduating years and was the organizer of the 10-year Class of 2001 reunion.

“Cardinal Mooney High School is my passion,” Oles said. “It’s where I learned the most valuable lessons in my life. Sanctity, scholarship and discipline have been the pillars that gave me structure to succeed. I am very blessed to have this opportunity to return to Youngstown Cardinal Mooney.”

Oles joins Cardinal Mooney from employment as Quality Assurance Manager for Union Tank Car Company’s repair business unit in Chicago. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Computer engineering from the Ohio State University, a Master of Management degree from Saint Joseph University and a Master of Science degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

When asked what his plans are as president of Cardinal Mooney, Oles said, “I plan to listen to the Bishop, Superintendent, parents, students and supporters of the Mooney family to gain a better understanding of where we are and where we need to grow.”