Honoring John Reimers and His Unique Style of Teaching

Every era of Woodberry students has its list of legendary faculty members. The names change depending on the decade, but how alumni describe these faculty members is remarkably consistent. They remember tireless work ethic, deep interests in students, and a feeling of lifelong connections.

For Ian MacLeod ’82, as for so many other students who attended Woodberry between 1972 and 2019, the faculty member who left a lasting mark was John Reimers.

Ian entered Woodberry as a fourth former and attended summer school before starting his new boy year. That’s where he met John, who was assigned as his English teacher.

“I just loved it,” Ian recalls. “He was the smartest, funniest, and most insightful teacher I’d ever had.”

When Ian returned to campus in September, John became his faculty advisor. Since Ian hailed from LaJolla, California, far from Woodberry’s traditional recruiting grounds, the faculty member and student soon fell into a running debate about Ian’s home state, then led by Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown.

“He loved to rip me about Jerry Brown, and it was just constant banter about California,” Ian says. “It probably didn’t help that I arrived on campus with the longest hair of any student in the school, which John frequently commented on.”

Ian and his wife, Paige, have long been supporters of educational institutions because of the emphasis that Ian’s mother, Valerie Semmes MacLeod, a graduate of The Madeira School, placed on education. Mrs. MacLeod knew of Woodberry from her time living in Albemarle County, where she attended Grace Episcopal Church alongside several generations of the Shackelford family, including Corky Shackelford ’46 and his father, A. Colquitt Shackelford — longtime faculty members in Woodberry’s English and math departments, respectively.

Ian ’82, Madison, Paige, and Stephen MacLeod

“Paige and I give to schools and universities, particularly in the form of scholarships, because of my mom and because of John,” Ian says.

It was in this spirit that the MacLeods made a major gift earlier this year to the John C. Reimers Jr. Scholarship Fund. First established in 2005 by Laura and Blair Woodall, the fund has grown thanks to gifts from the MacLeods; Lynda and David Underwood; their son, David Underwood ’84; and others wishing to honor John’s many contributions to Woodberry.

After graduating from Woodberry, Ian earned a degree in international relations from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. He has held a wide range of roles in banking and today lives near San Francisco, where he is an operating partner at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a private equity firm that invests in healthcare and technology companies.

Ian says John’s encouragement to be a better thinker and writer has served him well in his career. “Curiosity serves you well in business because you are always looking around the corner for what’s coming, what the next opportunity might be,” Ian says. “Good reading, writing, and speaking skills also serve you well. John always wanted to see you express yourself coherently, and he valued dialogue and debate. He challenged you to think rather than regurgitate.”

Ian also says that John’s retirement this spring was a reminder of the unstinting service he gave to Woodberry and its students over the past fortyseven years.

“His passion for teaching, his commitment to helping young men learn to think, and his dedication to Woodberry . . . I think there’s no more noble cause.”