Andover, the Magazine - Winter 2011

Chip ’85 and Burwell Schorr Create Their Second Endowed Scholarship Fund

by Victoria A. Harnish With a hearty laugh and a warm, charismatic personality, Chip Schorr ’85 exudes compassion and generosity. Though he is a gregarious man, he tends to keep his philanthropy private. “Making a gift is very personal,” Schorr says. “As a rule, my wife and I choose to give anonymously.”

WINTER 2011 Volume 2, Number 1 BLUEprint is published three times a year by the Office of Communication as an insert in Andover, the magazine of Phillips Academy.

Editor Victoria A. Harnish Director of Campaign Communications vharnish@andover.edu

At Andover, though, Schorr hopes to encourage fellow alumni to support the school. “The two years I was there were life-changing in terms of the trajectory the school put me on, the things I learned, the eye-opening opportunities, and the phenomenal classes,” he says.

“For me, giving to Andover is all about acknowledging the incredible experience.” In honor of his 20th Reunion, Schorr created the Paul C. Schorr IV Scholarship Fund.

Schorr describes his first trimester at Andover as one of his most difficult anywhere. “Sitting in Nat Smith’s math class, I wondered what I was doing there. About seven years of math lessons were packed into those first few months.” Now a senior managing director of a corporate private equity group, Schorr can’t escape math. “By the end of my upper year, Mr. Smith had me scoring fives and sixes on those exams. He transformed my skills and changed my life.”

That gratitude to Andover and to Nat Smith—a faculty member for 40 years—led Schorr and his wife, Burwell, to create their second endowed scholarship fund at Andover—this one in Smith’s name. “It’s incredible to think about the way in which Andover faculty dedicate their lives to the school and its students,” explains Schorr, a member of the Financial Aid Taskforce.

“Everyone who graduated from Andover had a teacher who helped to change his or her life in some way.”

A Nebraskan living in New York City, Schorr harkens back to his great-grandfather’s support of health care and hospitals during the Depression. “Philanthropy always has been something we do—like breathing and eating. I’m trying to instill this in my own children.”

He maintains his connection to his home state by attending nearly all University of Nebraska–Lincoln football games. “Football is a religion in Nebraska,” he comments. The university is another priority for Schorr, where he and his sister named the computer science center in honor of their parents—both UNL alumni.

“I was fortunate because my family could send me to Andover,” Schorr says. “The Nathaniel Baldwin Smith Scholarship Fund hopefully will open avenues for students who don’t typically know about a school such as Andover.”

Assistant Editors Jill Clerkin Stacy Gillis Contributing Writer Barbara LeBlanc Designer Ken Puleo Photographers Neil Evans Michael Malyszko Gil Talbot

Pianist Maxwell Meyer ’08, the first Paul C. Schorr IV Scholarship student, spoke and performed at the New York City celebration of The Campaign for Andover in December. Meyer, of Spearfish, S.D., shared with guests his gratitude to Chip Schorr and all who support Andover. The following is an excerpt of his speech.

I’m a tangible example of youth from every quarter. I applied in 2005 as a Midwestern kid with a passion for jazz music. At that point, as a sophomore, I had taken all of the AP classes in my local high school.

Fortunately, Andover came on my radar—perfectly timed. I visited campus and fell in love with it.

I come from a very proud, hard-working, middleincome background, and it wouldn’t have been an option for me to attend Andover had it not been for a lot of you in this room—and a few individuals in particular.

I mean it when I say there’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think about my supporters who have been there for me the whole time. My main benefactor is from the Midwest and has a passion for jazz music as well. I am incredibly grateful for his generosity and that of others.

I’m in a study group at Harvard with television anchor Charlie Gibson. His parting advice this semester was ‘Whatever you do in life, matter. Have an impact.’

That’s exactly what all of you in this room do.

Visit www.andover.edu/nyclaunch to hear Meyer’s full speech and jazz performance.

© 2011 Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.