Meet the President & Principal

President/Principal Leadership Model

Father Gabriel Richard High School employs the President/Principal Leadership Model. In this model, which is used at each of the four high schools of the Diocese of Lansing, the president directs the business and advancement activities of the school while the academic and student life operations are led by the principal. This model provides the opportunity for the principal to focus on students, faculty, and academic, athletic, and extra-curricular offerings and programs. The president manages fundraising efforts, business management, and public relations. The school community is blessed with two outstanding administrators who bring a wealth of experience to their roles.

Meet the President

Joe Jordano is thrilled to serve as the third president of FGR since July of 2021, bringing with him over twenty years of experience in global for-profit, not-for-profit, and church leadership experience.  After obtaining his bachelor’s degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Joe spent the early days of his career doing strategic planning work for the Pepsi-Cola Company.  Feeling called to more purpose driven work, he served a year in West Africa with Mercy Ships and several months in hurricane-torn Grenada with World Relief.  Returning to the States, Joe spent the bulk of his career serving in recruiting, strategic planning, and global partnership operation roles with International Justice Mission, a human rights organization working internationally to free victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery and oppression.

After receiving a particular call to serve the Catholic Church, Joe and his family relocated to Plymouth, Michigan to serve as director of parish operations for Fr. John Riccardo, then pastor of Our Lady Good of Counsel.  Prior to joining FGR, Joe spent four years leading the national accounts team at United Road.

Joe and his wife, Becky, are blessed with three sons and three children in heaven. They remain active members of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Plymouth.

Meet the Principal

Christopher Dotson began his tenure as Principal at Father Gabriel Richard High School in 2017. Prior to joining Father Gabriel Richard High School, he taught history at the middle and high school levels in Arizona and Michigan and was an experienced administrator at public, vocational, and alternative education schools. He double majored in History Education and Communication and Theatre Arts Education at Eastern Michigan University and earned a Master of Arts in K-12 Educational Administration from Michigan State University. Christopher and his wife, Kelly, have one daughter.

Christopher believes Catholic education’s mission is to continually seek out truth in an academically challenging, Christ-centered environment and works to create this atmosphere at Father Gabriel Richard High School. As St. John Paul II stated, “Catholic education aims not only to communicate facts, but also to transmit a coherent, comprehensive vision of life, in the conviction that the truths contained in that vision liberate students in the most profound meaning of human freedom.” He has an open-door policy and is happy to meet with past, present, or future families.