Supporting future Brooks students Galen Brewster ’61 directs his annual giving and philanthropy to financial aid Galen Brewster ’61 has vivid memories from his years at Brooks. But the most meaningful come from the time he spent on Lake Cochichewick. “Ox Kingsbury introduced me to rowing here. It’s where I first learned the meaning of discipline and hard work. Like a lot of things I learned at Brooks, those early lessons become more meaningful to us as we get older and wiser,” says Brewster. Those experiences inspired a lifelong love of rowing, which Galen still enjoys in the Maine waters near his home in Cushing. Brewster says he grew up on the Brooks campus, after arriving as a “sheltered, skinny, immature little boy.” Here he learned to navigate the sometimes trying times of a typical teenager. “I ran into a rough and tumble world of adolescent boys, and I learned to deal with difficult situations that would never have been allowed in my sheltered home life,” he says. As the school becomes an increasingly inclusive setting for learning and involvement, Brewster believes it’s important to support his alma mater by investing in its future students. “In addition to teachers and coaches like Ox, my fellow students were also a source of education for me. Like many of my classmates, I
believe that a strong financial aid program will continue to make that true for every Brooks student,” Brewster says. In support of his recent 50th reunion, Brewster directed his $10,000 annual fund gift, his $25,000 bequest and his $100,000 charitable remainder trust to student financial aid. Education continued to be important to Brewster after his Brooks graduation. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, where he was also crew captain, in 1965, and then a master’s degree in education from Harvard in 1978. After first becoming a bank officer, he next worked as a teacher, coach, college advisor and director of admissions at Middlesex School; headmaster at St. Timothy’s School in Maryland; and head of school at Phoenix Country Day School in Arizona. Now retired, Brewster is not just supporting Brooks financially. He was one of the planners of his 50th reunion and is now class correspondent, keeping 1961 alumni connected and gathering news for the Bulletin. “I admire that Brooks has grown stronger in every way, thanks not just to its people, programs and facilities, but because of those who are devoted to the idea that such a unique educational institution is worthy of our support,” Brewster says.
Fall / Winter 2011
41