BY BILL WELLS
ALUMNI IN ACTION: Dave Boland ’56M
Director of Student Promotion
‘Timing is Everything’ for Dave Boland ’56M • The Boland Family, including Dave Boland ’56M (far left), wife Marilyn (front row, second from left) and son Ryan ’88 (far right). Among other immediate family are sons Tom (back row, second from left) and Matt ’86 (back row, far right).
W
hatever he has been involved in throughout his life, Dave Boland ’56M has achieved two things: • From the bottom to the top, he’s climbed the ladder. • He’s had a front row seat. Even well into retirement age, Mr. Boland puts in 50 hours a week for the company he helped found 25 years ago: Timing Is Everything, which handles all timing and scorekeeping responsibilities for 290 professional and college teams in 13 sports spanning seven states. Always driven, much of that success is rooted in the Summer of 1955, when his mother reached out to a friend to help put her oldest child on a better path. Mr. Boland and his parents headed north, stopping to have a talk with Dr. George Rogers, the Head of School at Monson Academy and formerly of Mr. Boland’s hometown of Manchester, Connecticut. “It all seemed to fit and the rest is history,” recalled Mr. Boland, a member of the basketball and soccer teams at Monson. “I felt during my stay at Monson, Dr. Rogers frequently went out of his way to check on me and offer constructive help and encouragement, almost as though a kind favor was being gendered to his hometown roots. Dr. Rogers was highly respective and fit the role of Headmaster in all respects.” A changed person, Mr. Boland was now fully prepared to pursue his goal (since fourth grade) of becoming a teacher. Upon his graduation from Central Connecticut State University in 1960, he began his 23 years in education as a middle school teacher in Pomfret, Conn.
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In the world of teaching, Dave did it all: teacher, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent. He retired from education in 1983 after serving as the superintendent of schools in Brooklyn, Conn., for 10 years. “I like the orderliness of an organized class: the needed prep and challenge offered by a dedicated teacher, and the benefit to young minds captured my fancy,” said Mr. Boland, who married his college sweetheart, Marilyn Boraski of Naugatuck, Conn., in 1961. “I couldn’t wait to get to work each day.” Believe it or not, during that time and starting in 1960, Dave also juggled time in the military. He started in the Connecticut Army National Guard as a private and graduated two years later from the state’s Military Academy Officer Candidate School, commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Time as a platoon leader, instructor, executive officer, operations officer and company commander positioned him for a big jump. In 1982, as a lieutenant colonel, he entered the National War College for a 13-month residence course, and upon his graduation remained to serve on the faculty. Retired from education and in the military fulltime in 1984 with the Connecticut National Guard, he served as executive officer, commander, command administrative officer and eventually the position of Chief of Staff in 1985, a responsibility he held until being promoted in 1992 to Assistant Adjutant General. After 36 years in the service, he retired from the military as a Brigadier General, USA, in 1997. “The military was the most challenging learning environment available—with structure, purpose and goal orientation—I have ever experienced in life,” Mr. Boland said. “Clearly visible with military readiness in mind, I found countless opportunities presented to me that mentors believed I could achieve and transfer to all manner of life ahead.” What was ahead was a new career. In 1996 he launched Timing Is Everything with two business partners. The company started small, with two teams in its first year. Mr. Boland and his crews currently handle nearly 300 teams, including the WNBA, minor league baseball, professional lacrosse and soccer. One TIE crew member works the scorer’s table for the Boston Celtics.
