As the school year came to a close, alumni, volunteers, staff, and faculty gathered in Marriott Hall
to honor Associate Headmaster for Development Daniel H. Jamieson Jr. upon his retirement. Leading the school’s development and alumni relations operations since 2004, Jamieson oversaw the Centennial and STRIVE Campaigns, raising a total of $135 million for the school, increasing our endowment for financial aid and student and faculty support from $31 to $82 million, and allowing us to build Marriott Hall and the Cornerstone Garden, and to renovate and expand our athletic fields.
Noted Headmaster Robinson in announcing Jamieson’s retirement: “None of this would have been possible without Dan’s energy, vision, effectiveness at team-building, and most of all his understanding that fundraising is a human, rather than a transactional, exercise. Relationships are at the core of everything in a school, and Dan always kept this insight at the heart of his work. With Midwestern modesty and a kind, self-effacing nature, Dan built a world-class Development Office based on trust, community, human connections, and an abiding belief in the mission of our school.”
Toasting his long-time colleague at the reception, former Headmaster Vance Wilson also acknowledged Jamieson’s affection for school life and his skill working with people. “The St. Albans development officers sit down with the boys each day and eat lunch. This apparently small thing is a big thing,” said Wilson. “They manage a table, listen to the boys, talk to faculty, help clear the plates, listen to the announcements, feel the culture, and take that visceral knowledge back to their work raising money. I have seen it make a difference.” Wilson also praised Jamieson’s constant efforts to thank people: “One lunch downtown we sat with two philanthropists in Washington, D.C., and Dan and I explained to them we weren’t asking them for a gifts but thanking them for their sons and the leadership they had shown at St. Albans and for their giving over a long time. The couple looked at each other, smiled, and then at us, and said how unused they were to people returning just to say thank you. Dan does that every day.”