The Campaign for Lake foresT aCademy

Update

Campaign Leadership

Campaign ResouRCes Committee (CRC)Catherine m. Waddell p’01, p’03, Chair

merrill J. ferguson ’72, p’10karl r. gedge ’69, p’01Lauren a. gorter p’06, p’09richard r. Jaros ’70Jeffrey B. keller ’87Jeffrey C. neal p’00, p’02robin g. Zafirovski p’04, p’05, p’09

Head of school John a. strudwick

Dean of external Relationsmarina s. krejci

marts & Lundy Consultantkatherine doub

paRents Campaign Committee (pCC)Lauren a. gorter p’06, p’09, Chair

susan d. Coburn p’07, p’09, p’13Julie m. kennedy p’08, p’11, p’13Cynthia W. yingling p’09, p’11robin g. Zafirovski p’04, p’05, p’09

dear Lfa Community,As the month of August approaches, we begin to look ahead to the 2011-12 school year. We anticipate record enrollment of 425 students. We also look forward to the opening of Ferry Hall, our new girls dormitory. The construction process is moving along swiftly; we expect a March 2012 opening. Details about this project can be found on page 2.

This issue of Update includes two articles about people with tremendous affection for LFA. Their generosity toward the school is truly inspiring. They—and many others in our alumni and parent community—have helped us raise $32 million in our capital campaign so far. Of this, approximately $9 million has been added to the school’s Endowment Fund; the remainder has been used to upgrade and enhance our facilities, including faculty housing, athletic buildings, and now Ferry Hall, the first girls dorm ever built on the LFA campus.

So what lies ahead? Our focus is on academics. The Board of Trustees continues to prioritize Endowment Fund growth. At the top of that list is raising funds to support academic programming. The Board has also appointed an Academic Space Committee to evaluate the current academic spaces in the context of 21st century educational needs as well as in terms of their adequacy, given the increased size of the school. Of particular interest are the areas of math and science, where additional instructional and laboratory spaces are needed. As the Committee completes its work, we will share the findings with you so that you are aware of the next phase of improvements to our school.

Enjoy the summer, and please accept our most sincere thanks for your continued interest and support of Lake Forest Academy.

Jeffrey B. Keller ’87Chair, Board of Trustees

juLy 2011

Comprehensive Capital Campaign Contributions to date*

Campaign dollars raised $32,076,129

annual Charitable giving $11,652,963 (academy fund and gala from fiscal years 2005–2011)

totaL $43,729,092*Campaign contributions received after July 8, 2011, will be recognized in future publications.

ferry hall Progress on the Ferry Hall dormitory is moving along smoothly. The new girls dorm, which will house 36 girls and 4 faculty families, is scheduled to open in the spring 2012.

Fundraising for this important project continues. In the fall 2010, the Academy received an anonymous challenge grant of $400,000 from alumni as an in-centive to raise the additional $400,000 needed to fully fund this capital campaign project. So far, the Academy has raised $210,850 toward that goal. The challenge will run through Dec. 31, 2011. We hope you will consider supporting this project.

The new dorm will be situated adjacent to Marshall Field House, one of two girls dormitories currently on campus. The two-story structure, which recalls the aesthetics of the former Ferry Hall campus, will be home-away-from-home for three dozen of the Acad-emy’s nearly 100 female boarding students.

If you are interested in making a gift to the Ferry Hall dorm, please contact Marina Krejci, dean of external relations, at: mkrejci@lfanet.org, or Ruth Keyso, major gift officer, at: rkeyso@lfanet.org.

Thank you in advance for your support!

new and additional gifts to the Capital Campaign since December 7, 2010

anonymous (2)margaret and Larry Benjaminethel and nathan Cohen foundation Jennifer Cohen shneiderman ’79Christy and Bryan CresseyJennifer and Chris douglas ’74Jay ecklund ’55Joanie and karl gedge ’69adrienne and herbert s. kamin ’52ruth keysomary ann and Barry macLeanLynn hellyer mathias ’60 and richard mathiasdeedee davis mcgonigle ’60 and Bill mcgonigleJoanne and alan meyersanne and homi patelJudith and Jim reid-andersonann ridge ’71philippe salsberyCarla kappmeyer sherwin ’70 and philip sherwinLouise hamilton short ’66 and Jerry shortmarj mcneil spuzello ’60 and ed spuzelloJean Cook stanbury ’43 and John stanburyJoyce mesenbrink standish ’60 and Jim standishstacie and dave Thurman ’85kim and norm Wesley

By RUTH KEySO

It is no surprise that the Stuart family has been a loyal and generous donor to the Academy’s most recent capital campaign. Longtime residents of Lake Forest, the Stuarts have supported the school mightily over the years and have contributed both time and treasure to ensuring the Academy remains a vital part of the community.

“We’ve been [involved] with the Academy for a long time,” says Bob Stuart P’59, who grew up across the street from Ferry Hall. His sister, Margie Stuart Hart ’40, and cousin, Betty McClure Bennett ’39, graduated from Ferry Hall; his son, Jim ’59, graduated from LFA.

Being part of the school’s history for so many years, the Stuarts have seen the Academy through ups and downs. But bearing witness to the growth and vital-ity of the school in the past 10 years in particular has convinced them that the Academy remains a relevant part of the community.

“The Academy is a success story,” says Jim, who served on the board of trustees from 2001–10 and who was named a life trustee last year. “LFA has pulled itself together: you can see that in the buildings [on campus], and it’s at the frontier of global educa-tion.” Having such a school in the middle of Lake Forest, he says, is “startling” and impressive.

Both Jim and his father, Bob, are committed to help-ing the Academy remain one of the top independent schools in the country. In addition to supporting the annual fund at a leadership level, the family has di-rected additional support to the endowment and, most recently, to the Ferry Hall dorm project. The decision to build a new residence hall for female students at the Academy resonated with the Stuarts—particularly Bob—who felt that the building endeavor was the right project at the right time.

“I was conscious of young women having a nice place to live,” says Bob, calling the current dorm situation “not a nice set-up for girls.” “We wanted to pitch in.”

The Stuarts pitched in at the leadership level, mak-ing a significant gift to the new dorm in 2010. For Bob, projects such as this one bring great satisfaction because they strengthen the infrastructure of the cam-pus and make the Academy a more desirable place for both faculty and students. For Jim, the intangibles of the dorm—the sense of community it inspires, the spirit of camaraderie it engenders between faculty and students, and the home-like atmosphere it adds to the campus—inspired his support of the project.

“For me it’s about the experience of the dorm, not just the building itself,” says Jim.

Despite their giving history, the Stuarts are reluctant to call themselves traditional philanthropists. Bob says he is simply a man who sees needs and supports or-ganizations and institutions that serve a greater good, both in the community and around the world. Bob and Jim strive to apply both financial resources and time toward causes they believe in.

“I’m just an involved, concerned citizen,” Bob ex-plains. “It’s about supporting things that matter.”

For Jim, the Academy matters greatly. After transfer-ring to LFA from Andover for his senior year of high school, Jim learned the value of hard work and persis-tence and says his experience at the school “changed [his] way of showing up in the world.”

“I had to play sports, I had to take classes in math,

stuart family makes 6-figure gift to support ferry hall

physics, history,” and he had to work hard to make the grade, he says. “It was a profound experience.”

He cites masters such as math teacher Sid Ainsworth and Russian teacher Peter Ourousoff as instrumental players in his academic development. On the athletic fields, it was legendary track coach Ernie Barry who helped Jim perfect his pole-vaulting technique, re-sulting in “the greatest sports moment of [his] life:” clearing 11 feet during a dual meet against Milwaukee Country Day School in 1959.

“Jim did well [at the Academy], and he enjoyed it,” says Bob. “[The Academy] was a force in our family.”

When he joined the board in 2001, Jim wanted to give back to a place that had shaped him as a young man. He was the force behind reactivating the Alumni Council and was responsible for helping the Acade-my re-engage with hundreds of its alumni. He also worked directly with current students through Semi-nar classes on topics related to leadership. In addi-tion to his support of the campaign and the annual fund, Jim has also directed a 6-figure estate gift to the school through his will.

Reflecting back, Jim says he is pleased he joined the board a decade ago and was able to play a role in

“�[My�experience�at�LFA]�changed�my�way�of�

showing�up�in�the�world.”�—Jim Stuart ’59

the school’s history and success. He always knew the Academy was a place with “enormous potential” and is satisfied to see the school hit its stride in recent years. He hopes more alumni, parents, and friends of the school will become involved with the Academy and continue to promote its mission and message.

“We knew we could make it a great school,” says Jim. “There was no reason it [couldn’t] succeed.”

Jim Stuart ’59 and his wife, Dianne, live in Winnetka. Bob Stuart heads the Stuart Family Foundation and lives in Lake Forest.

Lfa alumnus and life trustee Jim stuart ’59 (standing) with his father, Bob stuart

By RUTH KEySO

One of the Academy’s most recent capital projects, the Durand House renovation, benefited from an un-expected boost of financial support when the school received proceeds from the estate of alumnus Paul W. Weinbrenner ’39 in 2010.

The $1.3 million estate gift was used to renovate and refurbish Durand, the former orangerie (green-house) and one of the original buildings on the J. Ogden Armour estate when the Academy purchased the property in 1947. Over the years, the two-story, red brick building has housed dozens of faculty and students and has also served as the main office for the LFA facilities department. The structure dates back to 1909.

These days, the building is home to six faculty mem-bers. Durand House is now known as Weinbrenner House in recognition of this alumnus’ most generous and thoughtful estate gift. Dean of External Relations Marina Krejci says the gift came at an opportune time for the school and allowed it to move ahead with a two-phase campus facility improvement project.

“Mr. Weinbrenner designated this tremendous gift to support faculty and student housing, which provided the funds to move and renovate Durand House while we focused on completing the Ferry Hall Dorm fund-raising,” says Krejci. “This bequest demonstrates the transformational value planned gifts can have at LFA. We are extremely grateful for Mr. Weinbrenner’s fore-sight and generosity.”

TimeLineThe Durand House renovation process began in Decem-ber 2010. Faculty members were temporarily moved off

campus so that Durand could be gutted and wheeled to a new location behind McIntosh Cottage, making room for the construction of Ferry Hall. Once set on its new foundation, Durand House was remodeled during the winter and spring months to include mod-ern plumbing, new floors and windows, and fresh fixtures. Faculty moved into the up-to-date housing facility in July 2011. Durand formerly housed five fac-ulty members; the remodeling netted one additional apartment, allowing for six faculty members to now reside in this historic building.

hisTory of durandDurand House was named for Henry Clay Durand, who moved to Lake Forest in 1872 and who served as president of the board of trustees at Lake Forest Uni-versity. Henry had donated the funds to support sev-eral buildings on the university campus, including the Durand Arts Building, Annie Durand Cottage, Lois Durand Hall, and Alice Home, a hospital building on the campus named for his wife’s sister. The hospital served both the school and the town and was the pre-decessor to Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital.

When the Academy moved to its present location in 1947 after a fire destroyed the old campus, school administrators carried over the names from their buildings on the former campus, including Reid Hall, Remsen House, Durand House, and Durand Cottage. Before opening the Academy for classes in the fall 1948, the school converted Durand House into a freshman/sophomore dormitory housing 28 students and two faculty families. The building was used as a boys dorm until the early 1980s when it converted to a girls dorm, until 1998.

By RUTH KEySO

In the late 1980s, Paul Weinbrenner ’39 did some-thing he had never done before. While in Chicago for a reunion of his WWII Army buddies, he visited the “new” Lake Forest Academy.

A 1939 graduate of LFA, Paul had not been back to campus since the school moved from east Lake Forest to its current location. Some things had changed in 50 years: Classes had gone co-ed, buildings had new names, and a husband-wife pair was at the helm of the school’s leadership team.

Despite the sweeping changes, one thing remained the same: Paul’s affection for his alma mater.

“Paul always said [the Academy] was the greatest learning expe-rience of his life,” says Bondy Hodgkins, who served as principal

of LFA from 1986-96, along with her husband Tom ’53, president. “It was where he learned how to learn.”

Paul’s visit to campus triggered fond memories of his high school experience and inspired him to become more involved with the Academy. He returned to campus several more times since that initial visit and volunteered to co-chair his 50th reunion committee in 1989. The experience of reconnecting with LFA later in life was so powerful for Paul that he decided to make a gift of a lifetime to the school upon his death. Paul named the Academy the beneficiary of a $1.3 million trust, which was used to support faculty hous-ing, per his wishes.

BaCkgroundPaul was born in Detroit in 1920, the second son of George P. and Helen Ryan Weinbrenner. After grad-uating from LFA, Paul earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and was drafted into U.S. Army, serving in England, France, and Germany. He was awarded the World War II Victory Medal and the U.S. Army Good Conduct Medal. After the war, Paul returned to Michigan and was active in his family’s business, B.C. Willis Company, which manufactured gambling equipment for casinos worldwide. He ran the business until 1984, when he sold it and retired.

Those who knew Paul remember him as a kind, caring man with a keen sense of humor and a gift for gab. LFA alumnus and fellow Dartmouth graduate Ralph Bogan’40 calls his friend “a good guy with a generous spirit.” He says Paul always wanted to grant money to LFA—and he did.

“LFA was a good place for Paul; it prepared him for Dartmouth, and he did well there,” says Ralph. “His Academy experience helped him.”

Tom and Bondy Hodgkins remained close to Paul for nearly 20 years after their first encounter on cam-pus. They recall the tremendous respect Paul held for the faculty at the school, especially Headmaster John Wayne “Big Boy” Richards, whom Paul spoke of so highly. They also remember Paul’s sentimental-ity toward artifacts from his high school days—dance cards, trophies, and certificates—many of which he later gifted to the school for its archives. Bondy says Paul would be delighted to know that his last—and largest—gift to the school fit in perfectly with the Academy’s needs.

“Paul would be thrilled to know that his money is be-ing put to use in the way that he wished,” says Bondy. “How wonderful that it fit into the Academy’s plans so nicely.”

The entire LFA community is most grateful for the generous gift from the estate of Paul W. Weinbrenner ’39 and is proud to welcome the Weinbrenner House to the LFA campus.

Weinbrenner gift funds faculty housingdurand house renamed Weinbrenner house

remembering paul Weinbrenner ’39 (1920–2006)

(above) durand house on wheels, ready to roll to its new location behind mcintosh Cottage, January 2011(left) durand house in July 2009; (right) Weinbrenner house, June 2011

The Campaign for Lake foresT aCademy

juLy 2011

Lake FoRest aCaDemy BoaRD oF tRustees 2011–12Zaid abdul-aleem ’90 makola m. abdullah ’86 mark T. ahern ’74 Lawrence s. Benjaminstephen J. Brewster, Treasurerpatrick J. Carroll ’87, SecretaryChinni Chilamkurtisusan d. CoburnJim C. Cowart ’69 nancy C. CrownThomas J. duckworthelizabeth J. ellrodtChristopher e. freeburg ’90 Brian r. gamachekarl r. gedge ’69 Lauren a. gorter, Vice ChairL. Thomas gregorygloria W. harpermaurice L. holmes ’83 michele marsh ihlanfeldt ’89 ned Jessengregory k. JonesLaurel Bye kamen ’64 Loretta kalnow kaplan ’73Jeffrey B. keller ’87, Chair Ben malek ’91 monique pittman-LuiJ. michael schell ’65 Jeffrey L. silvermark s. simonian ’77 regina e. spellers sims ’85 nancy how speer ’59, Vice ChairJohn a. Waltonrobin g. Zafirovskirichard L. Zhao ’04

FoR moRe inFoRmation about Lake forest academy’s capital campaign, contact dean of external relations marina krejci at: (847) 615-3223 or mkrejci@lfanet.org.

Lake FoRest aCaDemy1500 W. kennedy road • Lake forest, iL 60045

postmasteR: RetuRn seRViCe ReQuesteD

mission sTaTemenTLake Forest Academy strives to embody in its practices and to cultivate in its students excellence of character, scholarship, citizenship, and responsibility.

Character encompasses respect for others and their beliefs, dedication to honesty in every sphere of life, realization of moral clarity and conviction, and pursuit of virtue and value in life.

Scholarship encompasses acquisition of knowledge, development of critical thinking, enthusiasm for discovery and learning, and exercise of a powerful imagination.

Citizenship encompasses appreciation of diversity and multiculturalism, involvement in the LFA community, participation in service to others, and commitment to global awareness and understanding.

Responsibility encompasses development of self-reliance, ability to seek guidance, dedication to cooperation and teamwork, and action based upon informed decisions.

Click: www.lfanet.org8