Amy Falls ’82, P’19, P’21, will conclude her term as President of the Board of Trustees on June 30. Falls has served as Board President since 2019 and as a Charter Trustee since 2012. Falls will be succeeded by Eric Zinterhofer ’89, P’18, ’19, who currently serves as Chair of the Head of School Search Committee.
As the first woman to serve as President of the Board in Andover’s history, Falls reflected on the milestone in relation to the women who shaped Andover before her.
“I look forward to the day when that’s not worth commenting on, which will happen. But I’m very honored to have played that role, and I think it takes a chain. I look at all the women who have really contributed to the history of this institution, starting with Madame Sarah Abbot, who was determined to get a girls’ school [Abbot Academy]. And then [the 14th Head of School] Barbara Chase, and Barbara Timken [AA ’66, Abbot Academy Fund Director], Donna Brace [Ogilvie, AA ’30, established the Brace Center for Gender Studies in 1996], Mollie Lasater [AA ’56, Trustee Emerita], who just passed away. There have been a lot of women, Betsy Powell [’56, P’84, ’90, GP’19, Trustee Emerita], who have kept the presence, the voice, the traditions of Abbot,” said Falls.
Reflecting on her time as Board President, Falls said her interactions with students, alumni, and parents were among the most valuable parts of the role, reminding her of the purpose behind the Board’s work. During her tenure, Andover also completed several campus renewal projects, which Falls remarked on.
“I have also felt very excited by the campus renewal projects that we’ve done, to see students really occupying those spaces, athletics sites, the library, the music center. I think that whole wave of capital projects was really about common skill-based spaces or need-based spaces, which is good,” said Falls.
Falls also pointed to governance as a focus of her presidency, including the addition of three Board committees, the creation of an executive committee, and the establishment of a Vice President position, which Christopher Auguste ’76, P’09, ’12, will assume on July 1. Although the Vice President position had been created in principle, Falls explained that the Board waited to fill it until the leadership transition to avoid appearing to influence the selection of the next Board President.
“In my first few years, I looked at the committee structure, and I added three committees. One is the education committee; there had been one that had been disbanded. And then I added one for collections to represent the museums. And then the outreach programs where we folded the [Tang Institute] into that. So those were three brand new committees, taking the total number of committees from six to nine. The Board Chair really should go to all those committees’ meetings, and I found that I couldn’t really legitimately go to all of them. [So] we also created an executive committee, which we hadn’t had prior to that. If there’s an emergency or something serious, you don’t have to get all [the Trustees] on the phone. You can go to your executive committee,” said Falls.
Reflecting on Falls’s tenure, Zinterhofer emphasized Falls’s leadership, institutional knowledge, and experience across multiple roles at Andover.
“I have learned a great deal watching Amy lead and serve Andover over these last several years. She is an incredibly collaborative and deeply knowledgeable board president. Not only does she have the financial savvy and strategic skills required to distill the school’s complex operations, she has a unique ability to engage with and synthesize a range of voices and opinions. Contributing to Amy’s effectiveness is her vast institutional knowledge, accumulated over many years and beginning soon after graduation. She is a long-serving volunteer and philanthropist. She has seen Andover from the perspective of an alumna, a parent, a campaign chair, and a trustee, among other roles… Amy’s vision and steady hand have led the school through prosperous, rewarding, and challenging times,” wrote Zinterhofer in an email to The Phillipian.
As she looks toward the next chapter of leadership, Falls identified residential life, adapting with technological change, and student well-being as areas the Board will continue to address.
“I think we need to improve our housing stock. I think that’s new dorms, I think that’s rethinking the structure. I’m proud of what we did on the first wave, but I know we have other stuff to do, and that’s very important. The second big thing is that the shifts in technology are tectonic… I think that Andover always has to figure out how to prepare our students to take the leadership roles that they can… The third thing is making sure that joy and well-being are continually reinforced. All these changes and the drive towards excellence are important values. But it’s also important to have joy in your life and artistic expression for the sake of it,” said Falls.
Falls also reflected on personal memories from her time as a student, parent, and trustee, pointing to spring on campus, watching her daughters graduate, and the opening of the Falls Music Center.
“My favorite memories from Andover [as a student] are very much this time, when it’s finally spring, and just being on the lawn. I was lucky to be here for the big birthday of the Addison [Gallery of American Art]. To celebrate it, they had guys on stilts and music out on the lawn,” said Falls. “I loved watching my two daughters graduate.”
Falls continued, “I was very close to my dad when I lost him in August, and he loved music. And I always say that, for me, the Falls Music Center was really in his honor. And going to that opening, even though he couldn’t be there because he was still alive, but he was fading, but he was watching on Zoom. And I went home, and I gave him the little music box. That meant a lot to me, to have that moment and know that he knew it happened,” said Falls.
Falls emphasized the importance of allowing new leadership to step forward.
“I’m going to miss these meetings a lot. But I promised I wouldn’t be the ghost of Christmas Past. You’ve got to know when you’re over. I had my turn,” said Falls.
