“ If you take the power of love and combine that with spiritual soundness , dedication , and courage , you have the concepts that make good men or women great . It ’ s really the stuff that truly great leaders are made of . I began to learn this at Fordham Prep : the strength and talents you have been given are God ’ s gifts to you . What you do with those strengths and talents will be your gifts back to God .”
the consequences of their actions .” It ’ s an ethos that has carried Moglia for five decades - through successful careers as both a football coach and a business executive on Wall Street .
Moglia ’ s support of the Prep has been steadfast and generous , as have his gifts of time and talent . Joe has served on the Fordham Prep Board of Trustees as a member of its Executive Committee , as a well as member of the Prep ’ s Shea- McDonough Planned Giving Society . He has addressed the Prep ’ s Wall Street Forum at the Yale Club of New York City and also delivered the Prep ’ s 2005 commencement address which he closed with this statement :
If you take the power of love and combine that with spiritual soundness , dedication , and courage , you have the concepts that make good men or women great . It ’ s really the stuff that truly great leaders are made of . I began to learn this at Fordham Prep : the strength and talents you have been given are God ’ s gifts to you . What you do with those strengths and talents will be your gifts back to God .
A REFLECTION BY …
COVER STORY
Joe Moglia is a great American success story and Fordham Prep is a vital part of his story .
We were in the same home room class , 1C , in freshman year . Joe had a maturity as a freshman ( not that he didn ’ t occasionally get goofy like the rest of us ) and early on , exhibited a tremendous competitive streak . He excelled at both football and baseball and was a good student .
We both moved on to the Greek Honors program in sophomore year with a group of extremely talented classmates , so many of whom moved on to very successful academic and business careers . The teachers we had for those three years were phenomenal . Joe wasn ’ t very vocal in that group as he had concerns about a slight stammer that some mistook for lack of ability . Wow , were they wrong .
A couple of things that stood out about Joe in high school were his drive and an ability to focus . These traits , along with the advantage of coming from a wonderful family , have been a big part of his success in both football and business .
Joe paid for his Fordham University education by working in the Post Office . And he spent time as an assistant coach at the Prep doing what he loved , coaching young football players . After graduation , as he was progressing to be a head coach at a high school in Delaware , he focused intensely on his public speaking skills . He told me years later , that his goal at the time was to get a standing ovation every time he spoke . He turned what had been a slight deficit into a huge advantage .
At age 34 , Joe transitioned from Dartmouth Defensive Coordinator to a Merrill Lynch training program filled with Ivy League MBAs . An unusual move to say the least . Joe brought those speaking skills , an incredible work ethic , maturity and natural leadership to the table . Adding those skills to the intense desire to win that fueled his coaching success , Merrill Lynch upper management quickly recognized they had hired someone with huge upside .
When Joe was moving up at Merrill Lynch , we kept in touch and compared notes on what was going on in each of our lives and careers . A couple of guys from the Bronx and Queens who didn ’ t expect to be in the positions we were in . It wasn ’ t that often we were in the same city at the same time but we had some great conversations ( and laughs too ) when we got together . I marveled at Joe ’ s successful move from football to financial services and how he kept moving up .
I doubt there was a single time we didn ’ t credit our parents and our years at Fordham Prep for whatever success we achieved . For that reason , the generosity Joe has shown towards the Prep in so many ways is not only impressive but important . Like many of us , I believe he wants to see deserving students whose families are not able to afford Prep tuition , have an opportunity for a values based , Jesuit education that he was so fortunate to have received .
Let ’ s hope his and others ’ generosity will help Fordham Prep continue to create more great American success stories .
Dennis FitzSimons ’ 67 Former Chairman & CEO , Tribune Company ; Chairman of the Board of the Robert R . McCormick Foundation
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