AROUND THE QUADS | OF NOTE | FACULTY & STAFF
Four members of Loomis Chaffee’s development team presented at the 2011 conference of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education/National Association of Independent Schools. With more than 1,000 attendees, the event is the largest annual conference for independent school advancement professionals. Associate Head for External Relations Nathan Follansbee chaired the two-day preconference forum, Applied Advancement: An Intense Course for Newcomers, during which experienced advancement professionals discussed critical facets of fundraising, communications, and constituent relations for those new to the field. During the conference, Director of Development Timothy Struthers ’85 and Director of Alumni & Parent Relations Thomas Southworth, alongside boarding school education consultant Rich Sherwood, spoke about the challenges and opportunities of international fundraising in an independent school environment. And Director of Development Operations Lisa Salinetti Ross teamed up with a colleague from Concord Academy to share experiences on the topic of Annual Fund challenge gifts. The conference took place in Chicago in January.
Jessica Fenner has joined the Office of Alumni/Development as the associate director of the Annual Fund/associate director of reunion giving. A graduate of Wilbraham & Monson Academy, Jessica most recently served as the deputy finance director for Congressman Chris Murphy, where she helped to facilitate a $3 million fundraising effort for the Connecticut congressman’s successful 2010 campaign. Jessica also serves as the board president of the Connecticut chapter of the National Organization for Women.
Jessica earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Connecticut. A native of Windsor, she lives in Farmington. Director of Public Information Mary Forrester presented at a National Association of Independent Schools conference in Inner Harbor, Maryland, in February. Mary, who is also the school’s webmaster, contributed her expertise to a session titled “Next Generation Websites: Where Form Meets Function.” Kelly Hasenbalg joined the Loomis Chaffee community this winter as human resources director, a new position on the faculty. Kelly previously worked in human resources at Avon Old Farms School, and her career has included social work with abused and neglected children and recruiting. She says relationship-building is her favorite part of human resources work. “HR isn’t just about policies; it’s about people. That’s why I love and chose this career,” she comments. A native of Woodbridge, Connecticut, Kelly earned a bachelor’s degree from Worcester Assumption College and a master’s degree in social work from Boston College. She and her husband have two preteen daughters, Samantha and Meagan. English teacher Laura Richards Milligan ’99 and her husband, dorm faculty and coach Chris Milligan, welcomed their first child, Oliver, into the world on December 28, 2010. Physical Plant employees Thomas Raupach and Robert Wheaton retired in February. Tom concluded 22 years of work on the Island and celebrated with several weeks of vacation in Florida with his wife. Bob, who worked at Loomis Chaffee for 11 years, plans to spend retirement time in Aruba, where he and his wife have a timeshare.
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HR isn’t just about policies; it’s about people. That’s why I love and chose this career.
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— Kelly Hasenbalg Human Resources Director Gregory Walters joined the faculty this winter as the new director of the Physical Plant. Greg, a mechanical engineer who graduated from Union College, served in the Navy for 11 years and was stationed on the submarines USS Hartford out of Groton, Connecticut, and USS San Francisco out of Seattle, Washington, and Guam. After leaving the Navy in 2008, he worked for Westar Energy in Kansas as a plant support engineer at the company’s natural gas and coal power plants, but he wanted to return to the school environment he knew from his youth. Greg attended Sewickley Academy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and both of his parents worked at the academy. The Physical Plant director position at Loomis Chaffee was an ideal opportunity, he says, and he is glad the school saw the value of his experience and skills. Greg is waiting for his house in Kansas to sell before buying a home in town; so for now, he and his German shorthaired pointer, Heidi, live in an apartment a few miles from campus. Former faculty member Gregory Buckles, director of admissions at Middlebury College, visited the Island in February as a panelist for a
college program for parents of Loomis Chaffee juniors. Before joining Middlebury in 2008, Greg worked in admissions at Kenyon College for seven years. Greg taught English at Loomis from 1984 to 1989. His wife, former LC teacher Liz Honea Buckles, teaches English at Hotchkiss, and the couple has four children. Former faculty member David Goff teaches French at the Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Massachusetts, where he also coaches tennis and skiing and works as an advisor to the school newspaper. He leads summer trips to France for students. “I miss LC’s frozen yogurt machine in the dining hall,” he writes. David and Jessica McGovern were married in March, and a number of Loomis people attended the ceremony. Former art faculty members Walter and Marilyn Rabetz recently formed their own publishing company called QTR Publications using createspace.com, and they already have published a number of books. Their interest in self-publishing, along with their most recent book of glass-plate studio photographs by Nantucket photographer Josiah Freeman, was featured in an article on the Huffington Post Book Page titled “Stop Kvetching. SelfPublishing Is Here To Stay — And Vaulting Ahead” (March 3, 2011). Walter and Marilyn also offer design and editorial services to others who are interested in publishing books at qtrpublications@gmail.com. Former faculty member Ludy Söderman is director of the Multilingual Family Support Office for the school district of Philadelphia. She married Paul Spencer on December 11, and they live with her sons Yilmaz, 19, and Nazim, 18. Several former faculty members and LC alumni attended the wedding. loomischaffee.org | 13