Perry K. Martin, who has been the principal and acting president of Marist Catholic High School in Eugene, Oregon, will take over as president of Maryknoll School on July 1. Marist Catholic High School is a part of the Archdiocese of Portland which is going through the first bankruptcy ever declared by a Roman Catholic diocese, following a priest sex abuse scandal.

Maryknoll officials yesterday said the school's board of directors selected Martin to succeed retiring president Mike Baker.

Martin is the principal of Marist Catholic High School in Eugene, Ore., and has been performing the duties of president of the school, a property of the Archdiocese of Portland.

He started his current job one month before allegations of priest sex abuse exploded against the Archdiocese of Portland, leading it to file for bankruptcy protection from creditors. Victims have sought more than $155 million in damages.

Martin's school, Marist Catholic High School, is considered the Archdiocese's most valuable property, according to the Associated Press, with a market value of $15 million.

Martin, 50, said he is happy to be moving to Honolulu.

"Four years of bankruptcy was very stressful, actually," Martin said yesterday. "I am so looking forward to this change.

"The Catholic Church got in trouble because the leaders at the time knew problems existed and they just didn't take action," Martin said. "Your moral compass is one of your biggest assets. You have to realize what that moral compass is reading, and act on that feeling."

He will probably take up residence in Hawai'i Kai with his wife, Leann, a third-grade teacher.

They have a 21-year-old daughter, Cassandra, who is graduating from the Art Institute in Portland with a degree in interior design; and an 18-year-old son, Jameson, who is graduating from Marist Catholic High School and will play linebacker at Western Oregon State University, where he will study fire administration.

Martin has spent the past three weeks in the Islands visiting with Mike Baker, Maryknoll's popular president, who will enter semi-retirement and move back home to New England after the school year.

"He has done a terrific job in terms of leadership," Martin said. "He understood the uniqueness of the school. He spent 10 hard years understanding the tradition of Maryknoll. He helped build the neighborhood."

Martin also praised Maryknoll's board — "that's one of the things drawing me here" — and said his primary tool will be to listen.

"If you don't come in and be a listener, all you are is a speaker, and you don't learn the history that way," Martin said. "You can't move forward unless you listen."

Although she teaches third-grade Catholic school, Leann Martin will volunteer at Catholic schools other than Maryknoll.

"She wants to give back to the community and be a part of the church," Perry Martin said.

He was born in San Jose, Calif., and grew up in Oregon, graduating from Corvallis High School in 1975.

Like his son, Martin played linebacker for Division II Western Oregon State University, where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees in education. (He also holds an elementary and secondary administrative certificate from The College of New Jersey.)

"I didn't have the speed I really needed," Martin said of his sports career. "My son has more speed and athleticism."

But football proved a metaphor for Martin's 30 years of education — including more than a decade in Catholic schools and a dozen years teaching in Saudi Arabia.

"As an outside linebacker, my job was to take out the lead block so somebody else could make the tackle," Martin said. "I guess you could say that's a form of service."

Martin also was previously principal of Sacred Heart Catholic High School in Medford, Ore.

But it was the priest sex abuse scandal in Portland and subsequent bankruptcy that tested Martin's leadership and management skills.

Along the way, Martin insisted that he never doubted his faith.

"All your creditors and credit lines go away, and people start to lose respect for you because of your position," he said. "But it didn't affect my belief in the church or the sacraments."

In a statement, Maryknoll acknowledged Marist Catholic High School's bankruptcy, but not the priest abuse that triggered it.

Martin was credited with transforming Marist High School "from an aging school with limited computer access to a modern and efficient state-of-the-art technological one with laptops, projectors and multimedia applications in every classroom."

Marist High School also saw increases in both enrollment and faculty salaries under Martin.

"We are so fortunate to have someone of Perry Martin's caliber joining the Maryknoll School family," Al Wong, chairman of Maryknoll's board of directors, said in the statement. "Perry's strong administrative skills, demonstrated fundraising and financial management abilities, and passion and personal philosophy for Catholic education make him a valuable asset to the students, faculty, staff and parents of Maryknoll School."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.