by brian p. easler Head of School
WMA SPOTLIGHT: SCOTT B. JACOBS ’75
Scott B. Jacobs ’75: Leader, mentor and friend of the Academy • Scott Jacobs ’75, center, with former Head of School Rodney LaBrecque, left, and current Head of School Brian Easler.
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• Scott Jacobs ’75, second from right, with his family. From left: daughter Lauren Benjamin, wife Leslie and daughter Michelle Antle.
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cott Jacobs ’75 has been serving on the Wilbraham & Monson Academy Board of Trustees for 20 years, and in another year he will begin his 20th year as Chair. This is a remarkable tenure in a role that requires constant investment of one’s time and resources—it is truly a labor of love. To celebrate Scott’s dedication to WMA, we conspired to surprise Scott with a dinner celebration at our October Board Meeting. It was a rousing success (including breaking Scott’s No. 1 rule: no surprises), and a very special evening for a very special patron of the Academy. I first met Scott in 1998, my first year at WMA, when former Head of School Dick Malley sent me down the East Coast to meet some alumni. Scott brought Steph and I out for dinner at the Red Fish Grille on Bourbon Street (New Orleans), and the discussion that evening was the start of a 23-year mentoring relationship that has literally changed the course of my life. I didn’t know that at the time, of course, but that is definitely the way things have played out. It was a passive mentoring relationship at first. I attended most Board Meetings even in those days, so once Scott joined the board I was able to do with him what I did with other board members: I watched and I listened and I learned. So, what did I notice during all those early years of just observing? I noticed how adept Scott is at managing a room of high‑achieving Board Members. Scott has a subtle approach
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and quiet but authoritative presence, and he always gracefully and thoughtfully leads the Board, synthesizing often varied positions around complicated topics and bringing the members together when it would be easy for them to drift apart. I also noticed that Scott almost never writes anything down. That in itself is not necessarily unique, except when you pair it with the fact he also never forgets anything. Often in Board meetings a question about a previous Board resolution comes up and Scott says, “check the minutes from the October meeting three years ago.” Sure enough . . . right on target. It’s really impressive. Once I was chosen as the next Head, obviously, Scott’s relationship as my mentor became much more active. On the day he told me I had been selected, he said “you are now No. 2 in my phone list only after my family. You can call me anytime you need me, day or night.” He has certainly lived up to that promise. There has literally only been one time in eight years that Scott has not been available to talk with me within a minute or two of me asking ... and even then he called me within an hour. Other heads of schools are amazed when I tell them about the kind of access I have to our Board Chair, literally day or night, whenever I need him. The value of this level of engagement between the Board Chair and the Head really cannot be overstated, especially for a new head transitioning from within the school.
