John Lopes '80

West Point, Law School, CEO. These are just a few of the post-Immaculate destinations and accomplishments of John Lopes, Class of 1980.

John’s success was perhaps preordained by his notable achievements at Immaculate High School. While a student-athlete here, John was four-year year letterman in football, a Connecticut 4x4 Silver Medalist in Indoor Track, acted in the school’s production of Guys & Dolls and volunteered for Convenant House in NYC. These successes and experiences led him to the next level, as John went on to becoming the Captain of the Army Football Team that beat Navy in 1984 to win the Commander and Chief’s Trophy then going on to defeat Michigan State in the 1984 Cherry Bowl, and also being the CMO of three Indy 500 wins while at Andretti Autosport.

Today John Lopes is the CEO of LST Marketing in Indianapolis and he is overseeing a big project managing eSports events globally and the tour sponsorship for Florida Georgia Line, a country music act, in 2017. Additionally his firm is the Experiential Marketing Agency of Record for Volkswagen in North America in addition to working closely with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on sponsorships and events. John has been recognized as one of the Top 100 CMOs on Twitter by Social Media Marketing Magazine (find him at: @JLo_CMO).

John is also an attorney, and although he no longer practices, he now uses that background as a basis to help his day to day business efforts. He strongly feels that his experience at IHS prepared him for his advanced education and for his future overall. “Immaculate set the foundation for my entire academic life. Specifically, it was the difference in a highly competitive admissions process for West Point,” John said. “My decision to attend Immaculate set the course for what would eventually lead to military service, a career in law and marketing, as well as a chain of events impacting my entire life,” he added.

When John looks back at his days as a student-athlete at Immaculate, he believes that’s where he first learned two important philosophies that he says he carries with him every day: “The first is: do something every day to make yourself better and stronger -- constantly improve. I was taught that at Immaculate,” he indicated, adding that the second thing is “never, ever, under any circumstances, quit. Stick with the toughest challenges and good things happen. When I think about what it means to be a Mustang, those elements of determination and perseverance have stuck with me for my entire life. They were ingrained while I was a Mustang,” he said.

John was proud to introduce Coach Bob Slavinsky during his induction into the Immaculate High School Sports Hall of Fame in March 2016. “It was an honor for me to introduce Coach Slavinsky, a man who has meant so much to my life and the lives of many Mustang players and students for decades. It was a real treat to see the many talented student-athletes in attendance and appreciate their achievements,” he noted.

Today John lives with his wife Cheryl in Indiana. He has four children, son Chris and daughters Celeste, Taylor and Carrie. Despite the geographical distance, he is obviously still closely connected to Immaculate High School through his memories of lessons learned and people who cared.