Part of Roxbury Latin’s continuity is that we are always welcoming new people to our ranks—students, faculty, and staff. This year, five new members of the faculty will join RL as teachers and administrators, coaches and advisors.  

The search this year drew candidates from an especially wide pool. Applicants came from university faculties, parochial schools, boarding schools, and the private sector—backgrounds that ranged from restaurant operations and financial aid management to sports betting app analytics and nonprofit curriculum design. What united every finalist was a genuine commitment to the kind of intensive, student-centered teaching that has defined Roxbury Latin since its founding.

Jackie Salas first left her native Guam to come to Massachusetts when she arrived as a first-year student at Regis College. She made the most of this opportunity by excelling in her dual major—chemistry and international relations—earning magna cum laude honors at graduation. Drawn to Regis by its commitment to service, Ms. Salas was impressively involved in all sorts of service initiatives. She followed her Regis experience by earning a master’s degree in science education at the University of Notre Dame. A versatile science teacher with training in STEM approaches, Ms. Salas has brought her talent and passion to a range of educational settings, from working on social justice curricula in Minnesota, to teaching middle school math and science at a Georgia parochial school, to serving on the clinical faculty of her graduate program. Finally, she joined the faculty of Xaverian Brothers in Westwood. There she taught chemistry, physical science, robotics, and earth science to a range of age groups. Her supervisor there was Roxbury Latin’s own Dr. Bryan Dunn whom she succeeded as science department chair. In that role she was involved with curriculum design, professional development, and advocating for programs concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion. At RL, Ms. Salas will teach Honors Chemistry, IPS for Class V boys, and math. She will also serve as Assistant Director of Community and Culture and assist with the coaching of VEX robotics.

Matt McDonald ’85 returns to RL as Director of Admission. A respected and well-liked member of the Class of 1985, Mr. McDonald enjoyed a noteworthy six-year career complementing his academic achievements with participation as captain of the varsity soccer team (elected to the state All-Star team his senior year); as his class’s representative on the Disciplinary Committee; as business manager of the Yearbook; and as a singer in and officer of the Glee Club. Mr. McDonald went on to Dartmouth College where he earned a degree in government and participated as a member of the soccer program. After stints as a paralegal, sales rep, and marketing executive, he heard the siren call of schools and was appointed to the faculty and administration of Buckingham, Browne and Nichols in Cambridge. During his eleven years there, he served as Associate Director of Admission and Assistant Director of Financial Aid with responsibilities for charting strategic objectives, designing programs, and assessing and enrolling candidates. Mr. McDonald also taught world history to freshmen, served as assistant boys’ varsity soccer coach, and advised students. In 2015, he was recruited to Choate Rosemary Hall School, a distinguished Connecticut boarding school of 870 students. There he served as Director of Financial Aid ($13.5 million budget allocated to 33% of the school’s students), and Associate Director of Admission. He was instrumental in designing new data systems, developed a new assessment program, trained scores of faculty interviewers and file readers, and himself interviewed 125 students per year. At Choate, Mr. McDonald also served as assistant coach of the varsity soccer team. At RL, he played first for Chuck Farrington and then Bill Blood and Paul Sugg. He returned after college to serve as Mr. Sugg’s assistant for two years. He will now lead the whole soccer program serving as head varsity coach.

Brian Purnell joins Roxbury Latin second semester as this year’s Smith Scholar in Residence and to teach a first-time elective “The History of the Civil Rights Movement.” Dr. Purnell is the Geoffrey Canada Professor of Africana Studies and History at Bowdoin College at which he has been teaching for the past eleven years. A native New Yorker, Dr. Purnell attended Xavier High School, a Jesuit boys’ school, followed by his undergraduate years at Fordham and then his doctoral work at NYU. Just to stay within the boroughs, Dr. Purnell’s first teaching job was on the faculty at Fordham. Last year, Dr. Purnell gave a fascinating Hall presentation to RL students and faculty. He is considered a giant in the field of race and civil rights history, and we are fortunate, indeed, to have him teach this elective and our boys.

Taylor Fitzgerald, a member of this year’s Penn Fellows class, will teach in the History Department and be mentored by Mr. Tim Kelly. Mr. Fitzgerald is a decorated scholar athlete. Like a handful of our boys, he spent his elementary school years at St. John’s in Wellesley, and then he matriculated at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood where he dazzled as a three-sport athlete—football, basketball, and track and field. Mr. Fitzgerald went on to Williams College at which he majored in political science and anthropology. During each of his four years there, he was named All-American in track and field: one as an individual, the other three as a relay member for the 4×400. At Williams, Mr. Fitzgerald also participated on the step team, started a hip-hop group, and interned at a local farm. Since graduating, he has had various jobs, but principally has worked for Comella’s Restaurants, learning every feature of their operations and rising to management responsibility. He also served as a coach at his Alma Mater. Two of his teachers and coaches at Xaverian were Mr. Chris Heaton and Dr. Bryan Dunn. In part, thanks to their model and urging, he applied for the Fellows Program and we are delighted that, in addition to his teaching, Mr. Fitzgerald will be assisting with varsity football, freshman basketball, and track and field.

Michael Beam ’10 joins us as one of this year’s Penn Fellows teaching in the English Department (Classes VI and V) with Mr. Josh Cervas as his mentor. A graduate of the RL Class of 2010, Mr. Beam made lasting, positive impressions on many of us during his schoolboy days and for the breadth of his stellar contributions. He was a celebrated performer in a range of Smith Theater productions, but also a standout in the Latonics, and even a prize-winning orator in Greek on Exelauno Day. An especially versatile writer, Mr. Beam served on the Tripod staff, and earned plaudits for his debating and public speaking. He was selected as the Hennessy Scholar at Eton during his gap year and he earned the friendships of countless teachers and scholars there, as well. Finally, Mr. Beam landed at California’s Pomona College where he majored in Classics, sang in various choral groups—formal and a cappella—and earned his election to Phi Beta Kappa. Since his Pomona graduation, Mike has enjoyed a variety of experiences including as an author’s research assistant, a film script developer, wine salesman, and tutor extraordinaire. He has also helped lead campers at his own camp, Camp Timanous in Raymond, Maine, for eight years as a head counselor. Blessedly, Mr. Beam was available last August when Roxbury Latin needed teaching assistants to help lead and monitor classes throughout various hybrid learning phases. This year Mr. Beam takes on the stimulating, challenging duties associated with the Fellows Program in which, along with his teaching, he will serve as learning skills coach for those who need it, and assistant moderator of the Tripod.

“These past 15 months we found ourselves in unforeseen, utterly distinctive circumstances. While the spectre of COVID-19 challenged us in unique ways, however, this wasn’t the first time that honorable, community-minded people joined together on behalf of a worthy cause, or simply their shared survival. Thanks to its longevity—and, dare I say, its resilience—Roxbury Latin has withstood numerous threats to its survival, and certainly threats to its ability to honor a rare mission, over 376 years,” wrote Headmaster Kerry Brennan to the 2,277 donors who contributed to the 2020-2021 Annual Fund, helping the Fund top $4.5 million for the first time in school history.

In this challenging year we asked for your support, and you answered. Financially and otherwise, you supported Roxbury Latin in order that we could continue to offer a rigorously imagined program for all our students, and one that took into account, first and foremost, the health and well-being of all our community members, but also advanced the school’s mission with integrity and creativity. We could not be more grateful for the unflagging support of the RL community. Today we could not open our doors—or at least not to the parade of talented, worthy students and teachers—without the infusion of resources through the Annual Fund. As always, we tried to be worthy of your trust and affection. (View this thank you video.)

Thanks to the generosity and hard work of many, gifts to RL’s Annual Fund this year topped a record-breaking $4.5 million. These gifts allow Roxbury Latin to fill the more than $27,800 gap between tuition and the actual cost of educating each boy. They also allow us to charge an average of $16,741 less in tuition compared to other Boston-area schools. Below is a glance at the year in fundraising “by the numbers.” A more comprehensive assessment of Roxbury Latin’s 2020-2021 year in fundraising will appear in the fall issue of the Newsletter. Thank you to everyone who joined us in these challenging times and affirmed our good work.

$4,520,579   An Annual Fund record, exceeding $4.5 million for the first time in RL history

$1,753,658   A new record for parent giving

$1,809,965   A new record for alumni giving

2,277  A record number of donors

100%  Parent participation

55%   Alumni participation

100%  Faculty and staff participation

Phil Hansen—longtime history department chair and Scribner Professor of Global Studies Emeritus—died on June 25, at the age of 79, at a memory care hospital in Saco, Maine.

As his brother wrote in Phil’s obituary: Phil’s teaching career included faculty positions at Kimball Union Academy (English); the Woodstock (VT) Country School (English and Headmaster); and for 23 years, The Roxbury Latin School, where he taught world history, western civilization, U.S. history, modern European history, African history, and political theory. When, at age 28, he was asked to take the helm at Woodstock Country School, he became the youngest headmaster in the country.

At Roxbury Latin, his accomplishments included reviving the school’s debate team and founding the Model U.N. and public speaking programs, all of which, under his tutelage, became the school’s most popular activities and distinguished RL in competitions, nationally and internationally, leaving the school (in a retirement tribute in 1998 by a fellow faculty member) “an empire and a dynasty which are glory of the school and the admiration of the world.” When Phil retired in 1998, he was described as “a towering intellect” and “one of the truly great minds on the RL faculty.”

Equally important to Phil was the positive impact he had on hundreds of students who engaged in his classes and extracurricular activities. His retirement tribute included many accolades from grateful former students: “a positive driving force in my life.” And another: “his relentless efforts to teach, discipline and advise. . .are testament to the devotion, dedication, and loyalty he possesses.”

Phil was particularly adept at nurturing the academic and personal lives of students who struggled. Said one former student: “He never seemed to be afraid of the worst in a student and approached his frailties with uncommon humanity.” In addition to teaching and mentoring RL students, Phil served as a foster parent for at-risk youth referred to him by the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services.

His compassion and commitment to social justice were evident early on. As a student at Bowdoin College, he became involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He was instrumental in establishing a student exchange program with Morehouse College and in bringing Dr. Martin Luther King to the Bowdoin campus for an address to the student body and community at large. For these activities, Phil was awarded the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Prize presented to the student “whose vision, humanity, and courage most contribute to making Bowdoin a better college” and was commemorated, in 2014, in the Bowdoin convocation as an inspiration to current students.

Phil also worked with inner-city youth groups in the New York City area while a student at Union Theological Seminary. In retirement, he volunteered on the Jefferson School Committee, as the Bowdoin debate coach, and for LGTBQ support groups. (Read Phil’s complete obituary.)

Headmaster Kerry Brennan wrote to the Roxbury Latin community the following, in memory of Phil and his long, storied relationship with the school:

“Phil had a distinguished career of social activism and academic excellence at Bowdoin and other schools before arriving at Roxbury Latin in 1975. One of Tony Jarvis’s first appointments, Phil went on to serve for 23 years as chair of a colorful department and as a teacher of virtually every course in the history curriculum. Not long into his stay, Phil would be named Director of Studies, a position that would allow him to influence the curriculum writ large. Perhaps Phil’s most enduring and distinctive contributions were as director of the debate and Model United Nations programs. While scores of RL boys would hone their public speaking and interest in global affairs thanks to these programs, Phil was also responsible for forming the regional association of debate programs (DANEIS) and, indeed, was one of the founding fathers of the international organization through which RL debaters have competed over the years. Phil was famous for supporting the underdog both at school and in the community. Many boys whom he advised or otherwise supported are the beneficiaries of his great care. We are grateful for Phil’s long, generative career at RL and his model of engaged stewardship.”

Phil’s family has indicated that a memorial service and celebration of Phil’s life will be held in the fall. To share a memory or leave a message of condolence to his family, you may visit this page.

Alumnus Amit Paley ’00, CEO and Executive Director of The Trevor Project—which provides support and crisis intervention for LGBTQ youth—recently wrote an opinion piece that was featured as a Guest Essay in the New York Times, in response to NFL player Carl Nassib coming out as gay and Nassib’s subsequent $100,000 donation to The Trevor Project. The essay focuses on the fear and psychological hurdles that many LGBTQ youth feel in regards to participating in sports, and the critical role that coaches, managers, and teammates have in combating those hurdles and creating a safe, inclusive atmosphere for all athletes.

Amit has been at the helm of The Trevor Project since 2017. He began as a counselor on the organization’s 24/7 TrevorLifeline in 2011. Since then he has answered hundreds of calls from LGBTQ youth in crisis. He is the first volunteer counselor to become the CEO of the organization in its 23-year history, and he still continues to answer calls on the TrevorLifeline.

Under his leadership, the organization has dramatically expanded the number of LGBTQ youth that it serves and the breadth of programming that it offers. During his tenure, The Trevor Project built and launched a new, integrated crisis services platform; expanded its chat and text services to 24/7; and more than doubled the number of youth served each month. The organization has also transformed its TrevorSpace platform into the largest safe-space social networking site for LGBTQ+ youth and expanded The Trevor Project’s research initiatives. The Trevor Project also now operates the largest grassroots campaign in the world to end conversion therapy.

Before becoming CEO of The Trevor Project, Amit was an associate partner at the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he served numerous non-profit organizations, Fortune 500 companies, and governments. He served as a leader of McKinsey’s LGBTQ group and spearheaded the firm’s global efforts on inclusion for transgender and non-binary people. Prior to joining McKinsey, Amit was a reporter at The Washington Post, where his work was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He is a renowned expert on the mental health of LGBTQ young people and suicide prevention, and he has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CBS, ABC, NBC, Reuters, Fortune and more. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College; an MBA from Columbia Business School; and a master’s degree from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25. The Trevor Project offers accredited life-saving, life-affirming programs and services to LGBTQ youth that create safe, accepting and inclusive environments over the phone, online and through text.

On May 17, the Roxbury Latin Innovation Exchange hosted its final meeting of the year, welcoming Sam Miller ’04, the Founder and CEO of Proteus Motion and creator of the Proteus system—the only 3-D resistance training, hardware-software system in the market—to speak to students and faculty about his experience of starting a company, and to share lessons he learned and the entrepreneurial tools he honed while founding Proteus. Before discussing his company, Mr. Miller started from the beginning, chronicling the steps of turning an idea into a product and a company. 

“My first bit of advice is to always be learning,” says Mr. Miller. “Completely open yourself to new ideas, new understanding, and new approaches, and have a flexible mindset. Second, separate yourself from your ego. There is no room for your ego in this process. Third, rigorously test your assumptions and beliefs; deeply understand what your beliefs are; and stand by them at all times. You will be challenged in a lot of different areas and from a lot of different directions. Fourth: Crazy ideas are a good thing, right? You’ve got to remember that when the future becomes the present, very few things actually seem crazy.”

“Finally? This is a marathon. Overnight success is not a real thing—it does not exist. Except for maybe a few exceptions here or there, this is a total marathon, a million little steps. Some of those steps go up, and some of those steps go down, but you’ve always got to keep your eye on the summit, on where you’re headed.”

Mr. Miller’s story began when he was 16 years old, and a student at Roxbury Latin. His father, who had worked at MIT since the early ’90s, had developed the concept of a mechanical system or structure that would allow for exercise in three dimensions. 

“It was this crazy machine that he was developing in the basement of a house in the suburbs of Boston,” says Mr. Miller. “Parallel to that, I was a pretty decent athlete—nothing special, but I was playing a lot of sports and going through my own rehabilitation process. I had a knee condition called Osteochondritis Dissecans, which is very painful. I went through long stints of physical therapy. That whole time, I was extremely frustrated with the equipment I was using during physical therapy, which had me doing leg extensions on a machine. I was thinking, ‘How does this translate to what I’m doing?’”

At the time, Mr. Miller’s sport was soccer. His doctor would send him on his way with a list of exercises, but no additional information, no accountability, and nothing to measure progress. Mr. Miller felt powerless, at the mercy of the experts and their decades-old processes for training and rehabilitation. 

“Fast forward a few years,” says Mr. Miller. “I graduated from RL and went to Vanderbilt to study engineering. I had always dabbled in design, but I was a generalist. When I had a few years of professional experience under my belt, I could not stop thinking about taking this concept that my father had been developing at MIT and redesigning it, digitizing it. I was super naive about it. In 2015 I literally quit my job one day and thought, ‘Hey, I’ve got a great idea. I’ll go out and raise a bunch of investment dollars, and we’re just going to take this product to market.’ I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

For nearly a year and a half, Mr. Miller pushed his idea to fruition. It would take 15 months to raise his first dollar of investment. Now Proteus is growing exponentially. To date, the company has raised close to $10 million, employs 30 workers, and has doubled the number of its machines in the world: There are 60 now; Mr. Miller expects 150 by the end of this year and more than 1,200 next year.

“We feel like we’re on a rocket ship,” says Mr. Miller. “Through this process, we’ve focused on elite level athletes as a way to gain leverage and marketing cache. We’ve taken a similar approach on the investment side. We’ve been successful in attracting some really exciting investors who were actually willing to put money behind this and say, ‘I believe in you, I believe in the vision, I believe in the team to execute.’” 

Investors in Proteus include Stacey Griffith, a founding instructor at Soul Cycle; Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield; John Kosner, the former Head of Digital at ESPN; former commissioner of the NBA, the late David Stern; and even Paul Byrne, the former President of Precor, the man responsible for bringing the now-ubiquitous elliptical machine to market.

“Paul likes to remind me,” says Mr. Miller, “’Hey, when we came out with the elliptical, we had to drive it around in a van. Nobody knew what it was, but once they got on it, they understood it.’ And it became the best-selling fitness product of all time. It’s very similar to what we’re doing at Proteus, but with a software component attached to it.”

After his presentation, Mr. Miller took questions from students and shared insights into manufacturing, industrial design, customer service, marketing, and dealing with setbacks during the startup process.

The conversation naturally turned toward how innovation survives once it leaves the lab and enters the public eye, where even the most groundbreaking product can sit unnoticed without the right visibility. In today’s landscape, marketing is no longer just about big ideas and glossy campaigns; it’s about being found at the exact moment someone is searching for a solution. That’s where smart SEO strategy quietly does the heavy lifting, turning curiosity into clicks and interest into trust.

For startups especially, tools like a well-optimized VCard can act like a digital handshake—simple, direct, and surprisingly powerful when done right. Being listed in the SEO Expert Directory helps brands position themselves alongside credible professionals, ensuring their story doesn’t get lost in the noise. After all, even the elliptical needed a van and a few test rides before the world caught on; today, discovery happens online, and those who master that terrain tend to move a lot faster.

As the discussion deepens, it becomes clear that visibility is no longer a fortunate byproduct of innovation—it is a discipline in its own right. Founders must think beyond product development and consider how their digital footprint communicates value at every stage of growth. Search presence, structured data, and consistent brand signals all work quietly in the background, ensuring that when interest arises, the pathway to discovery is already paved.

For those navigating this intersection of innovation and exposure, learning to refine digital positioning can make the difference between steady traction and stalled momentum. Many entrepreneurs begin to explore these layers more deliberately here with Kak Varley, where the focus shifts toward building authority through clarity, relevance, and precision. In the same way early demonstrations once introduced new ideas to the world, today’s digital strategies carry that responsibility—only now, the stage is global, and the audience is already searching.

Alumni Darian Reid—member of the Class of 2005, and a member of the faculty since 2010—and Matt McDonald ’85 will be taking on two key roles at the school, focused on supporting the boys of Roxbury Latin, and also on enrolling the next generation of RL students. Darian—who has distinguished himself as an exemplary teacher, classmaster, coach and advisor—will be taking on the role of Dean of Students, as Paul Sugg steps down from a post he has held since 1997. Matt—who has nearly two decades of independent school admission experience—will join the Roxbury Latin faculty as the school’s Director of Admission, taking over for Billy Quirk ’04 who has held that position since 2016. (Both Paul and Billy will remain as members of the Roxbury Latin faculty.)

“Darian has experienced school life from virtually every angle,” says Headmaster Kerry Brennan, “as a superb classroom teacher, as a highly motivating coach, as an attentive advisor, and as Class V Classmaster. He has been a great shepherd of his flock, and he knows this school deeply and well. From the time that he was 12 years old, he’s come to understand and live out Roxbury Latin’s mission. Darian knows our values and priorities and the ways in which we motivate and support boys. In our increasingly complex world, students are needing different kinds of support, and Darian is keenly attuned to kids and what they need. I know that he will be an especially effective Dean of Students.”

Over this past year, Darian has helped to lead the school’s inclusivity and equity efforts as RL’s Director of Community and Culture. As a member of the school’s senior leadership team, he championed RL’s ongoing efforts to know and love every boy; acknowledged opportunities for evolving the curriculum so that all students recognize themselves within it; provided professional development opportunities for faculty and staff related to issues of racism, bias, and creating an inclusive school community; and convened important student-focused discussions on topics of difference, equity, and justice. As Dean of Students he will continue this effort, with the collaboration of incoming faculty member Jackie Salas, who—in addition to teaching in the Math and Science Departments—will take on a role in helping to lead these efforts. Billy will also work closely with Darian as Assistant Dean of Students.

“I think the Dean of Students role is, in part, being a shepherd of the shepherds: helping advisors and classmasters support the students as best they can,” says Darian. “In addition to that, I see this role as helping to set the culture for the students and with the students. The world changes pretty quickly. In some ways the particular topics will present themselves, so—rather than setting the agenda—it will be part of my job to help build an environment in which, whatever presents itself, the students have the tools, and the skills, and the competencies to tackle it.”

“There’s no time in my association with Roxbury Latin that Paul Sugg was not the Dean of Students, so in some ways, it can be difficult to imagine what this role is without envisioning Paul in it,” says Darian. “In all those years, Paul has offered an incredible balance of patience, but also firmness, an ability to build a rapport with students, and an ability to navigate difficult terrain. The thing that I find confidence in, taking this job after Paul, is that he was so thoroughly himself, and comfortable in that way. That gives me the confidence to approach the role as myself, as well. Finally, I look forward to working closely with my colleagues across the school so that I can understand and approach the Dean of Students role from a holistic sense, which is very important to me.”

***

Since 2015, Matt McDonald has served as Director of Financial Aid and Associate Director of Admission at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut. Prior to that, he served in the admission and financial aid offices of Buckingham Brown and Nichols School in Cambridge for more than a decade. At both schools Matt had proven success in attracting and enrolling mission-appropriate students; driving admission-specific strategic planning; allocating financial aid dollars to support a talented and diverse student body; and ensuring that the entire admission process aligned closely with the school’s mission.

“Matt brings a set of skills that will be extremely valuable to us,” says Kerry. “He is an alumnus of the school, yet he has had the experience and the perspective of different schools—in particular, how they do admission work and honor their respective missions. I know that Matt will be an effective champion of what we stand for in the broader community. We’re lucky to still have with us RL’s last three Directors of Admission—in Tom Guden ’96, Andy Chappell, and now Billy Quirk ’04—to help support him as he steps into this role, and I’m confident that Matt will follow in that strong tradition.”

“Roxbury Latin was a transformative place for me as a student,” says Matt, “and I see my role as identifying students who will take full advantage of the range of opportunities available to them—and, in turn, helping them to see what a remarkable place Roxbury Latin could be for them.”

“From everything I’ve seen and experienced, the people of Roxbury Latin are true to their word when they describe who they are, what they value as an institution, and why. Fundamental to all of that, I think, is that RL really values each individual. I think regardless of your personality or range of interests, if you come to Roxbury Latin as a curious, engaged, caring, and kind person, you’re likely to have a positive experience. And while the school, at its core, remains very consistent and true to its values, there’s still a lot for me to learn. Like any great institution, RL has evolved and changed. I’m looking forward to getting to know Roxbury Latin today, and with that I feel a great responsibility to be sure we’re continuing to find the best kids in the Boston area to grow and learn at this school.”

Both Darian and Matt will assume their new roles as of July 1, 2021. In addition to his advisor duties, Darian will continue as a teacher of Classics and coach of football and basketball. In addition to his role leading the school’s admission efforts, Matt will also advise students and lead RL’s soccer program as Varsity Head Coach.