25, 2012
chronicle.hw.com
News A9
With President Thomas C. Hudnut scheduled to leave Harvard-Westlake after the 2012-2013 school year and Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra to serve as the first ever Senior Alumni Officer, the administration will be seeing many changes.
ants to be remembered an office full of laughter ings of our girls’ teams,” Hudnut said. Despite Hudnut’s investment in different departments, his role as president deals with the business aspect of Harvard-Westlake. As Chief Executive Officer, Hudnut said his main focus has been interactions with national and international organizations and local governments as well as fundraising, alumni outreach and public relations. After Hudnut delivers his final commencement address at the 2013 graduation, he said he does not plan on spending much of his life in retirement on campus. He will join a head search firm, scouting administrators for other schools. In addition, he will take part in an educational, entrepreneurial venture in China. Hudnut is excited about devoting more time to his hobby fly-fishing. After his retirement, Hudnut will have more time to go fly fishing around the world. Hudnut said his travels will not be limited to places where the fish population is high and the waters are calm. “One of the by-products of being president of Harvard-Westlake is that I have gotten to know school heads literally from all over the world,” Hudnut said.
“I can go to any continent and anywhere from 20-30 countries and have a friend there who runs a school. I look forward to seeing one of them on their own turf.” Despite his travels, Hudnut does not plan to uproot his life in Los Angeles. His wife, Deedie, is Head of Admissions at the Center for Early Education in West Hollywood. He also has three children and two grandchildren who live in the Los Angeles area. This summer, he plans to fly to London to watch his son, Peter Hudnut ’99, compete in the Olympics. Hudnut will also continue to remain close friends with fellow teachers and administrators at Harvard-Westlake. “We don’t get to see that much of each other as it is because he is so busy,” Performing Arts teacher Ted Walch said. “I’m hoping he’ll be a little less busy, and that as a result he and Deedie will have more time to go to a movie or to come over for dinner. So, weirdly, Tom’s retirement is good news personally.” Upon returning from summer vacation, Hudnut will start his final year as a member of the administration. “I’m going to leave here knowing that the school is in good shape, knowing that
Salamandra to pioneer new position By Saj Sri-Kumar
VOX ARCHIVES
90s STYLE: Then-Headmaster Thomas C. Hudnut appears in the 1990 yearbook. I have an excellent successor, knowing that I have been privileged to work with some extraordinary people and knowing that I have done my best,” Hudnut said. Hudnut has been a member of a school every day since he started kindergarten at 3 years old, and while his retirement marks the end of his career at Harvard-Westlake, he continues to be dedicated to education. “I’ve always looked at the possibilities of our students and what they will be able to achieve,” Hudnut said. “I consider it our responsibility to help them become the best people they can be and to help them learn that doing well is nice but doing good is more important.”
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SOURCE: JEANNE HUYBRECHTS GRAPHIC BY SARAH NOVICOFF
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF ROGER ON
CHEERLEADERS: Future Head of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas, right, and Track and Field Coach Jonas Koolsbergen, left, attend a cross country meet.
Barzdukas to apply athletic experience in new admin role
By Julius Pak
Head of Athletics, Associate Head of School and now the future Head of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas has always focused on nurturing the individual. Even when he first began his Harvard-Westlake career as the school’s first Head of Athletics in 2003, he held this belief. “Harvard-Westlake is not a one-sizefits-all place,” he said. “We take things on an individual basis.” At the University of Virginia, Barzdukas earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and master’s degree in sports psychology before working for 12 years at the United State Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colo. first as a sports scientist and later as the associate director of coaching. Throughout nearly a decade as Head of Athletics, Barzdukas has worked to create structured and coherent curricula for student-athletes at HarvardWestlake. One of the centerpieces of his tenure so far is building a relationship with Italian soccer champions AC Milan since their philosophy embodies his own, Barzdukas said.
“Everything they do is about developing kids, it’s continual,” Barzdukas said. “That is part of their idea of social responsibility. They do what they can to ensure that they have good lives. It’s hard to tell when someone is 10 if that person is going to be a professional soccer player, so you want to provide all your 10 year-olds a great experience. And you want to provide this great experience all the way through so they stay a part of you, just as we hope our experience at Harvard-Westlake will.” Barzdukas’ work has begun to spread outside of the athletic realm of school. Two years ago, he began auditing academic and arts classes to get a better feel of the academic situation of the school. Last year, he was named Associate Head of School to become more involved in the school’s administrative workings. He hopes to bring whatever he achieved in the athletics department over to the rest of the school. “If there’s one thing I think I’ve done well in my job as Head of Athletics, it is to bring in resources to athletics, and I am excited about doing that for the Upper School academically,” Barzdukas said.
In 1979, a young science teacher came to 3700 Coldwater Canyon Avenue as one of 13 new faculty members that year. Thirty-three nathanson ’s/chronicle years later, Harry Harry Salamandra Salamandra is still here. “I didn’t expect to stay here as long as I have,” Salamandra said. Today, Salamandra, or “Mr. Sal,” is known as the Head of Upper School, a position he has held for 14 years. Next year, he will be shifting roles to become the school’s first ever Senior Alumni Officer. Even before he joined the faculty, Salamandra was a part of the Harvard School family—literally. His sister married science teacher Jim Brink who, after a year of working at Harvard School, told his brother-in-law about a new position in the science department. “I applied to the school, came out for the interview, and next thing I know, I’m working here,” Salamandra said. Today, even when he leaves campus, he is still not far from the community, living in a house adjoining his sister Vivian and Brink. “It’s been a great opportunity, truthfully, to be able to live close to relatives, and yet we have separate lives,” he said. “But, you get the best of all worlds. You have the support of a big family and you get to live your own separate life as well.” Initially an eighth, ninth and 10th grade science teacher, Salamandra also coached the boys’ varsity tennis team. In 1987, incoming Headmaster Thomas C. Hudnut promoted Salamandra to Dean of Students. Simultaneously, he began teaching computer science instead of science. During his tenure, Salamandra witnessed the merger between Harvard and Westlake Schools. “I believe we’ve grown into a school that has the best of both worlds, the best of both schools,” he said. “We’re a school that has students that are intellectually curious, as well as students that are talented athletes, musicians, artists. I believe the faculty from both schools have worked hard to make sure the student body for our new school is one we would be proud of, and really even surpass the expectations that were initially out there.” Although it has been years since he has taught a science class, Salamandra still teaches Choices and Challenges to sophomores. “I still do consider myself a teacher,” he said. “Some of the best parts of my day are when I’m with students in the classroom. I learn from the students. It’s a two-way street. I enjoy the intellectual vigor that there is in a classroom situation.” Although he will no longer have an official position working with current students next year, Salamandra said he plans to continue his involvement through Peer Support and teaching classes. He also hopes his new role will allow him to bridge the gap between students and alumni, working with alumni to find internships and other offcampus opportunities for students. Even after 33 years, Salamandra said that he hasn’t gotten tired of working on the same campus. “I still wake up in the morning and want to go to work,” he said.