After a national search that lasted for several months and yielded over 150 candidates, Thomas Lockerby, current Vice President for Development at Boston College, was selected to become the new Secretary of the Academy, and will begin his tenure at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
Lockerby will replace Peter Ramsey as the Head of the Office of Academy Resources (OAR). Ramsey is in the midst of his 17th year as Secretary of the Academy and will step down to join the OAR as the Senior Philanthropic Officer.
“This represents a major change and opportunity for the Academy for the next ten to 15 years in the work of alumni and parent engagement and philanthropy that we do for the school,” said Ramsey.
As the Secretary of the Academy, Lockerby will oversee fund-raising for the school. He will also manage all communications with alumni and parents of the Andover community. “It’s a job with many parts, all designed to work with people who want to become better connected and support the Academy in a greater way,” said Lockerby.
Lockerby graduated from Harvard after attending a local public high school in Vermont, where he grew up. He entered the field of institutional advancement around 20 years ago and has worked at both Harvard as Director of Development Relations and at Dartmouth as Director of Gift Planning.
For the past ten years at Boston College, Lockerby has overseen the $1.5 billion Light the World campaign.
“I think that it’s really my work experiences and my passions for philanthropy and how it affects schools and helps them to be stronger that has really prepared me well for this next job,” said Lockerby.
The search process to find a new Secretary of the Academy began several months ago when the OAR team met with the Isaacson, Miller Search Firm to discuss the position. The search committee and Isaacson, Miller worked together to narrow down the applicants to three finalists, according to Tracy Sweet, Director of Communications.
“The quality of the pool of candidates was impressive, the process inclusive and thorough, and the outcome excellent,” said Thomas Hodgson, Instructor in Philosophy and Religion and a member of the search team for the new secretary.
After the OAR team met with the candidates, reviewed their qualifications for the position and gave their feedback to both Head of School John Palfrey and the search team, Lockerby was selected for the position.
“[Lockerby] stood out among an exceptional group of candidates for the position of secretary of the Academy. … [Lockerby]’s record as an outstanding fundraiser, skilled manager and team leader, coupled with his success representing a top tier university with deeply loyal alumni, will serve Andover extremely well,” said Palfrey in an Andover press release.
“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing [Lockerby] and admiring his work for a number of years now. I’m very excited about his appointment, and I think that we can all look forward to seeing the Office of Academy Resources and our support for volunteers going to the next level in support of the Academy and in support of our students and families and faculty,” said Ramsey.
Lockerby said he is looking forward to coming to Andover this summer.
“As I got to know faculty and I met some students in my day at campus, I was really attracted by the feeling at Andover and how important the community was to all of the faculty, students and administrators that I met,” said Lockerby.
Lockerby will arrive on campus in June to begin his term as Secretary of the Academy during the final phase of the strategic planning process. Despite being unable to shape the beginning of the process, Lockerby will play an instrumental role in communicating the strategic plan off campus, primarily as it affects alumni and parents.
“I’m arriving later to the [strategic planning] process, but I hope that I’ll be very much involved in it as it moves forward.” said Lockerby.
In addition to helping further the strategic planning process, Lockerby hopes to quickly get to know many of the people whom he will be working with in the coming years.
“My immediate goal when I arrive on campus is to get to know my team in the Office of Academy Resources… Then, my second priority is to get to know the campus community by meeting and developing relationships with faculty and other senior administrators,” said Lockerby.
