A Leader in Leadership
Tim Murphy ’85 is well acquainted with the elements of effective leadership. As chief administrative officer at MasterCard, where he’s worked for the last 25 years, Murphy has seen how his Prep education and the Ignatian philosophy of leadership as service put him on the right path. Inspired by Prep’s intentional approach to forming men for others and by the school’s current momentum in pursuit of the magis, Murphy and his wife Mandy have stepped up as leaders for Prep with a $1 million gift to Go Forth.
“I’ve always believed deeply in the school. The core Jesuit approach has been profoundly impactful in my life and remains enormously important in terms of raising young men of conscience, character, and faith,” says Murphy, past chair of Prep’s Board of Governors. Murphy counts the brotherhood, excellent academics, and faith formation as influential aspects of his time at Prep. “But above all,” he notes, “the Ignatian idea of leadership as service has been a really big part of how I’ve experienced the world. It’s been proven to me again and again to be an enormously practical, useful, and authentic way to live.”
Although the couple has two daughters and no sons, Mandy shares her husband’s commitment to Prep and his esteem for the value of a Prep education to society at large. In her words, “The world needs good men.”
The Murphys have been impressed by Prep’s current leadership, especially the vision of President Christian Cashman and the energy he has generated in support of Prep. The opportunity to help Prep tap that momentum and generate additional support prompted the couple to make their largest gift ever to any organization. “We want to help lead,” Murphy explains, “because we can really see how it will unlock more value for the school.”
The couple’s generous gift has been directed to support the Barron Arts and Recreation Center, a project the Murphys wholeheartedly endorseboth for the transformational potential of completing the campus footprint, as well as the way the gift honors Murphy’s own experience at Prep. Murphy credits iconic Prep teachers like the late Lou Saracco with opening his eyes to culture and the arts, which have since become a rich part of his life and that of his family.