OnCentre Words of Thanks to Retiring Trustees Sara Greer Dent ’77
Ronald S. Frank
Elected to the board in 1994, Sara continued for Milton the unique and valuable trustee role pioneered by her mother, Margaret Jewett Greer, Class of 1947. Sara pursued her interests at Milton quietly and persistently during her tenure, seeking answers to questions about the quality of School life and the writing standards in School publications. She made the comfort and beauty of dormitory common rooms her business. She also probed the wisdom of many proposed financial strategies. Sara tested our new building designs for their practicality and utility, and made sure that they were gracefully landscaped. The less seen and frequently overlooked elements of our facilities and infrastructures Sara tended, fully aware of the impact of their efficiency, or inefficiency, on day to day school life, and on the budget. Perhaps the only trustee who has given birth to twins during her tenure, Sara was undaunted, and came back to serve the board on several committees. The Buildings and Grounds, Budget, and Lower School committees have benefited from Sara’s intense interest, great questions, and strong opinions over these last eight years.
We managed to convince Ron, in 1994, to join us on the board as his two children were completing stellar 13-year experiences at Milton, thereby locking in his wisdom long after they had graduated. Ron has been known for asking the question that recasts the issue, offering the point of view that shifts the focus of the conversation. He challenges conventional thinking. While we didn’t always understand the questions Ron asked, we did all benefit from the discussions that followed, and we made wiser, or at least betterinformed decisions. Ron spoke knowingly about each phase of the Milton experience, in touch with the educational environments our several school divisions – Lower School, Middle School and Upper School. Ron generously offered specialized help to the board, to Robin, and to Ed Fredie before her, on matters of strategic planning. He launched, in the early ’90s, the first of many exercises in institution-wide strategic thinking. Ron’s contributions to the Budget, Student Life and Lower School committees have been valuable, and his energetic mind has helped fashion Milton’s strategic vision today.
Elizabeth (Bizzy) Chatfield Gilmore ’68 Bizzy served the board first as the ex officio representative of the Graduates’ Council and then, from 1994 to 2002, as an elected member. During her tenure she co-chaired the Trustees Committee, and chaired both the Lower School and Academic Affairs Committees. When Bizzy finished her first term on the board as the representative of the Graduates’ Council her colleagues noted that they would miss “her honest insight and her consistently cheerful, positive approach,” as well as her “initiative, creativity and good humor.” Bizzy “invested in Milton those organizational skills for which she is so well-recognized outside the School. …Her wonderful ideas, infectious enthusiasm, and generous hard work will be missed.” This spring, at the close of her elected term, Bizzy’s wish was to reverse the tables, thanking her colleagues for her experience with them on the board.
Kenneth J. Goldberg ’81 We’ve been fortunate to count Ken among our numbers as the person most attuned to graduates’ interests and ideas, as he has served Milton since 1999 as the co-president of the Graduates’ Association. Ken has been a thorough and conscientious trustee. He has a perfect, or nearly perfect, attendance record, which is truly an accomplishment! Ken has also assisted with the Boston-based graduates’ events, helping with ideas and logistics and then spreading the word about ways to stay connected with Milton. Ken’s work with graduates made him a key member of the External Relations Committee, and Ken also served on Academic Affairs and Buildings and Grounds Committees. Thank you, Ken, and stay close to Milton in these exciting years ahead.
“I wish you all the best, and thank you for all I’ve learned. And I’ve learned so much – about administrators, educators, learning and the learning environment, how to refine ideas and how to accomplish great things. Thank you to each of you.”
57 Milton Magazine