Honoring Scott Jacobs ’75

Scott B. Jacobs ’75: Leader, mentor and friend of the Academy

• Scott Jacobs ’75, second from right, with his family. From left: daughter Lauren Benjamin, wife Leslie and daughter Michelle Antle. S 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

• Scott Jacobs ’75, center, with former Head of School Rodney LaBrecque, left, and current Head of School Brian Easler.

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.

I know Scott provided a similar level of support to Rodney LaBrecque during his years as Head, but in very pragmatic ways Rodney and I needed different kinds of support from Scott. Rodney came to WMA with vast experience at several other well-known schools, while WMA has been my only school. Rodney was already experienced in the aspects of school leadership of which I had none. Rodney was already an experienced Head, and I was totally green. I am certain that our vastly different needs required of Scott significantly different kinds of support and guidance. I am in no way suggesting that Scott and Rodney somehow had it easier. On the contrary, Rodney came to WMA and Scott became Chair at a time of significant financial challenges that I have no doubt tested Scott in his role. My point, and a central one I believe, is that Scott transitioned so successfully between working with one Head to another, very different in so many ways, and that the continuity of Scott’s leadership and support over the span of 20 years is largely responsible for the thriving school we all know today.

Certainly the biggest challenge for Scott’s leadership in my tenure as Head has been the pandemic. Scott’s vast experience and knowledge, and his thirst for more, was absolutely central and critical to how well the Academy weathered this crisis. Scott’s strategic and tactical thinking were always at the forefront, helping us stay one step ahead. He didn’t wait for me to reach out with issues or ideas; he was constantly thinking about WMA and how we would, how we should, get through this. He was proactive and rational and absolutely determined that we would succeed in one central priority: WMA will survive this, no matter what. “Everything else can be put back together,” his words, “as long as the school survives.” That might seem a little extreme now, after having come through it so successfully. At the beginning, though, things were not so certain. Scott’s central priority led to what became an institutional mantra for getting through the crisis. “Whatever It Takes” became our collective answer to any challenge, and that mindset buoyed this entire community through one of its most tenuous times.

In recognition of Scott’s 20 years of loyal and dedicated service to WMA and the Board of Trustees, current and former Board members, family and friends raised $1 million, in Scott’s honor, as a gift to WMA. As further testament to the trust and confidence his intelligence and leadership inspires, the gift was designated to Scott’s sole discretion in how it is applied within the Academy’s financial planning for maximum short- and long-term benefit. This essentially means that Scott has a discretionary fund of a million dollars to allocate within the Academy as he sees fit. In recognition of this gift, and through the generosity of the donors, the room where we hold our Board Meetings in the Athletic Center has been named the Scott B. Jacobs ’75 Board Room.

Through all of this, Scott’s humility and his sense of humor brought balance and sometimes a bit of levity when needed. My weekly calls with Scott are always a blend of his wisdom, passion, encouragement, challenge and never a shortage of laughter. I will always know Scott Jacobs not only as a mentor, a role model and, quite literally, my boss ... I will always consider him my friend.

• Scott Jacobs ’75 reacts to the announcement of the newly named Scott B. Jacobs ’75 Board Room in the Athletic Center.