Loyola Welcomes New Board Chair Robert Foster An Exclusive Interview

By Tracy Edwards

WITH A DEEP FAITH and keen focus on the mission of Loyola High School, Robert Foster deftly steps into the job of Chairman of Loyola’s Board of Directors, following the departure of Rick Caruso (See box on on adjoining page.).

“I am incredibly humbled to be chosen by our Board for this role,” says Mr. Foster, “and I am looking forward to working with the talent, dedication and vision of our Board.”

An active Board member since 2016, Mr. Foster is a trailblazer in the field of bioscience technology, currently serving as Chairman of MC3 Cardiopulmonary, and founder and CEO of Catalina Sciences. His career accomplishments include ground-breaking innovations in cardiac surgery equipment and cardiopulmonary life-support devices for critically ill patients.

As the father of four sons, all Loyola graduates, Mr. Foster is steadfast in his commitment to support Loyola’s tradition of Jesuit principles, which he believes influence students for the rest of their lives.

“Besides receiving an incredibly fine education,” he explains, “Loyola Cubs see their lives as an extension of something bigger than themselves. It is important to me, to support a school whose mission is the formation of men of faith, scholarship, service and leadership.”

In addition to the new Chair, the 30-plus person Board welcomes three new members who bring a rich abundance of new perspective: Rene LaVigne ’79, President and CEO of Iron Bow Technologies; William A. Smith II, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Company; and Dr. Bevanne Bean-Mayberry Upperman, Internist with Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles and Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA. The Loyola Board of Directors’ primary role is serving as the governing and fiscal oversight body for the school, typically meeting four times a year. Through the work of its standing and special committees, the Board ensures the school has the resources and support it needs to carry out its mission.

As they reconvened this fall, Board members will have their hands full, digging into goals set out in a five-year strategic plan. “Over the last couple of years there had been over 500 members of the Loyola community working on the strategic plan,” explains Mr. Foster. “Students, parents, faculty, Board members, staff and administration have all lent their voices and points of view.”

“We are in very good, very talented hands,” declares Fr. Gregory M. Goethals, SJ ’73. “We could not ask for a more committed or gifted group of people to act as stewards of Loyola’s mission. I look forward to working with Robert and the talented group of dynamic individuals who complete our Board.”

“I am incredibly humbled to be chosen for this role,” says Mr. Foster, “and I am looking forward to working with the talent, dedication and vision of our Board.”