Honoring a Legend: Dick Leavitt P'82,'84

A Half a Century of Service: A Look at the Tenure of Faculty Emeritus Richard "Dick" Leavitt P'82,'84

The Governor's community lost one of its most beloved legends when Faculty Emeritus Richard "Dick" Leavitt P'82,'84 passed away on June 21, 2025. Dick Leavitt served the Academy for fifty years, a record that surpasses that of any other employee in the school's history. Over those years, Mr. Leavitt and the Academy both underwent a tremendous amount of change. 

The following retrospective was written by the Academy's Archivist and History teacher, Sharon Slater, in honor of Leavitt's retirement from Governor's in June 2014. With Mr. Leavitt's recent passing, we again have the privilege of honoring his legacy and enjoying some Govs history.
 

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New Teacher
As a young man, Dick Leavitt graduated from Amherst College with a degree in physics. He initially intended his stop to be temporary; he would take a one-year position in the Governor Dummer Academy mathematics department before heading off to Harvard Graduate School. Little did Leavitt know what was in store.  

Leavitt arrived on a campus ruled by men with big personalities. Although long-serving headmaster Ted Eames had left Governor Dummer Academy five years earlier, many of the men he hired to teach remained an integral part of the faculty. These men included John Witherspoon, Mac Murphy, Art Sager, Tom Mercer, Buster Navins, and Ben Stone; men who had dedicated their lives to the Academy and its students. Their example, combined with his own experiences, left Leavitt wanting to build a career at Governor Dummer. As Leavitt himself described, “I was bitten by ‘the life.’ Had the people at the Academy been different, I dare not think of how short a career here I would have endured.” Lucky for us, he chose to remain.  

 

Life at Governor Dummer in the mid-1960s was a demanding one for faculty (much as it is now). In addition to his role as a dorm parent in Perkins, Leavitt coached “pony football,” as the thirds football team was called then, and began a short-lived rugby team. Dorm supervision involved enforcing rules such as “no radios for underclassmen” as well as regular room inspections. Dinners were formal sit-down occasions: Jacket and tie were required, and khaki pants were not permitted. 

Even the study and teaching of mathematics looked different in the mid-1960s. Instead of laptops and calculators, students brought slide rules and logarithm tables to use in class. While the tools have changed, the courses were not so different from those taught today: Algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus. 

Strict rules did not preclude adolescent mischief, however. As a young dorm parent, Leavitt teamed up with fellow dorm master John Ogden to catch the “Raw Marauder,” whose mischief included dumping buckets of water on unsuspecting sleeping students in the middle of the night. Such pranks did not seem to drive Leavitt away, and this early prankster was later dismissed from the Academy.

 

Chair of the Mathematics Department
Leavitt was quick to move up the ladder on the Governor Dummer campus. Not yet 30 years old, Leavitt was named Chair of the Mathematics Department during the momentous 1971-1972 school year. This year marked the last year for Headmaster Val Wilkie and the first year of modern coeducation.  

In September of 1971, 25 young “coeds,” as they were called at the time, arrived as day students on the campus. These young women, although far outnumbered by their male counterparts and still not permitted to board, changed the campus environment. Changes also took place in the faculty with the retirement of some of the Old Guard. The school, and American culture, seemed to be entering a new era. The counterculture movement had spread to boarding school campuses, and the old rules and traditions were not so readily accepted by the new generation of students.

With the Vietnam War still being fought on the other side of the globe, students engaged in campus protests just as they did on college campuses. The old restrictions on hair length had been abolished and the barber no longer came weekly to campus. In only a few short years, mandatory chapel would be eliminated and most of the Old Guard hired by Ted Eames would retire. By the mid 1970s, girls would begin boarding in Boynton House and Farmhouse. Even the curriculum reflected changing culture, as it incorporated “packaged” courses, in which students would be supplied with a general syllabus at the start of the term and could master material at their own pace. Environmental Studies was offered as an interdisciplinary course. The old dress code was largely abandoned in favor of the less strict ban on “dungarees and non-collared shirts.” It was during this era of change that Leavitt found himself leading the Mathematics Department.   

As a young man heading this department, Leavitt may have been spared some of the pressures to “modernize” the curriculum that came to bear on departments such as English and History, which began to deviate from the old cannon to include non-western studies within the course offerings. Although students had mostly abandoned their slide rules for hand held calculators, the classes themselves remained the same.  

Director of Studies 
By the late 1970s, Leavitt was no longer the new kid on the block. Many changes had occurred on campus, including the 1975 retirement of Ben Stone after a 43-year career at Governor Dummer. This resulted in the need for a new Director of Studies, a role which Leavitt filled while maintaining his position as Chair of the Mathematics Department until a suitable replacement could be found the following year.  

When Leavitt was able to dedicate himself to his new position, he began many new initiatives, including a faculty development program that brought several speakers to lead panel discussions on relevant educational topics. Among the speakers was GDA parent and noted educational reformer Ted Sizer, who addressed the issue of teaching values within a boarding school community.  

Leavitt was at the helm in the Academic Office when the school initially added computers to its academic tools, through the generosity of Courtney Wang '74 and his family. Even in the late 1970s, Leavitt understood the importance of change for a 200-year-old institution. When looking back on the changes over his tenure, Leavitt explained, “If we don’t change, we regress.” As an administrator during these years, Leavitt embraced this notion of change as a means of progress.

Dean of Faculty
Leavitt was able to shape the faculty experience when, in 1984, he was named to the newly created position of Dean of Faculty, while also maintaining his position as Director of Studies. These years marked the start of a new administration under Headmaster Peter Bragdon. Bragdon sought to energize the student body and faculty, building enthusiasm for the school. Leavitt, who had already devoted a significant portion of his life to Governor Dummer, fit into this vision. As Leavitt himself described, “I focused on upgrading quality in the academic program, bringing more coherence to the course offerings that would challenge the most capable and support those not as gifted.” Leavitt was also proud of “helping to attract faculty to Byfield who are committed to the academic side of things as well as coaching and mentoring.” Many of the faculty attracted to Byfield during those years remain integral members of our community today, including Perry Nelson, Mike Karin, Lynda Fitzgeral, and Paul Wann. Others who shared their long tenure with Leavitt but have recently retired or moved on include John Seufert, Dick Searles, Irina Okula, Elaine White, and Steve Metz.

The 1980s saw a revival of school spirit. New traditions like the rivalry with the Brooks School as well as the open house at Mansion House on Saturday nights helped usher in a new era on campus.  

Unfolding the wonders of mathematics and encouraging young mathematics students always held my heart first.

Senior Member of the Faculty  
After the 1996 retirement of longtime faculty member Bob Anderson, Leavitt became the senior member of the faculty for the last eighteen years of his career. As part of this unofficial role, he was asked by Headmaster Marty Doggett to become the regular toastmaster of the awards ceremonies at the end of the school year. This task, which had been previously performed by the winner of the Ambrose Speaking Prize, became one that more recent faculty and students associate with Leavitt. With brass bell in hand, Leavitt launched into these ceremonies with ritual references to Yankee PA announcer Bob Sheppard as well as jokes about Headmaster Emeritus Doggett’s alma mater Williams being a “cow patch school in western Massachusetts.” As the head of the Academy’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society, he became famous for his introduction at the yearly underclassmen prize ceremony: “At the Tome School in Port Deposit, MD.”

All of us who have had the honor of knowing Dick Leavitt still miss his presence on campus and in this world. When asked what he would miss most upon his retirement, Leavitt replied, “Unfolding the wonders of mathematics and encouraging young mathematics students always held my heart first.” Mr. Leavitt's memory will be held in the hearts of generations of Academy families and friends.