2021 Alumni Reunion
We are thrilled that over 100 Browning alumni and faculty were able to attend this year's celebration. Thank you again for joining your fellow classmates, teachers and friends at this year's reunion and for helping us recognize Dean of Faculty Michael Ingrisani, History Chair Dr. Gerald Protheroe and Coach David Watson. Enjoy the below photos and videos from our reunion events. We look forward to celebrating together again in-person in the near future!
Opening the Red Doors in 2020-21
APRIL 14, 2021
A special panel moderated by Head of School John Botti featured veteran administrators Maureen Linehan, Browning’s School Nurse of 29 years, Aaron Grill, Director of Program Innovation, Theresa Rodriguez, Director of Office Services, and Janet Lien, Director of Enrollment Management. With a cumulative 83 years at Browning between them, the panelists discussed how the School pivoted to online learning in March 2020, the planning and execution of the School’s in person reopening last September, and how their roles changed during an unprecedented 2020-21 academic year.
Head of School John Botti said of the panelists: “What these folks do is boundless and it is nothing short of a privilege and a pleasure to be their colleague.”
Retirement Celebration for Coach David Watson
APRIL 15, 2021
The community came together for a special Zoom celebration of Coach David “Wattie” Watson, who retired the previous summer after 39 years at Browning.
Hosted by Athletic Director Andrew West ‘92, attendees over the age of 21 sipped “Wattie Tequila Sunsets,” and toasted the legendary coach, who inspired generations of students both on and off the field. Alumni and former colleagues shared their favorite memories and stories of Wattie and caught up with former teammates and teachers. There were many toasts, lots of laughs, and heartfelt remarks from Coach Watson. Wattie assured all of his former athletes that post-pandemic he would return for a much anticipated alumni soccer game. Game on, alumni!
Dr. Protheroe on his 25 years at Browning
APRIL 16, 2021
A lunchtime conversation with History Department Chair Dr. Gerald Protheroe and Alumni Council President Stuart Orenstein ‘00 covered a great many topics, including changes the legendary teacher has seen in education during his career, highlights from his time at Browning, and his plans to move to Rhinebeck, NY and work on his golf game in his retirement. Reflecting on his more than 45 years of teaching, 25 of which were spent at Browning, Dr. Protheroe said: “I’ve always been pretty much wedded to three things: open inquiry, diversity of viewpoints, and the search in classes for constructive disagreements. And, those three axioms really worked tremendously well since I began teaching at the United World College of the Atlantic in South Wales in 1975.”
Alumni, along with many current and former colleagues, were in attendance, including former Headmaster Stephen M. Clement, III who said: “The thing that I think is most impressive about Gerry, and I experienced this for the 20 years that we were in the building together, was his ability to reach every student. Gerry met everybody’s needs, and he met the boys where they were and took them on to the next level or the next or the next.”
Michael Ingrisani Receives the Charles W.
Cook ’38 Alumnus Achievement Award
APRIL 16, 2021
Browning’s Alumni Association presented Dean of Faculty and English Department Chair Michael Ingrisani with its highest honor—the Charles W. Cook ’38 Alumnus Achievement Award. For the first time in its history, this award was presented not to an alumnus, but instead to Browning’s longest serving teacher, in recognition of all that he has given to his students and the school in his more than half-century of service and leadership.
Chair of the English Department since 1970, Michael Ingrisani became Browning’s Dean of Faculty in 1994. Seminal in shaping the intellectual standards and professional culture of the school, Mr. Ingrisani has been a mentor to hundreds of students. His classrooms were places where academic fundamentals, senses of humor, deep introspection, and trusting relationships were nurtured and championed.
Upon receiving the award, Mr. Ingrisani said: “I was surprised by the award for the very obvious reason that I did not attend Browning as a student. Thinking about how for all of my career I have tried to teach boys to use and enjoy language, to understand the world and themselves in the process, over the years I have learned a great deal. I know that I have learned enough by being in the atmosphere of Browning, and by espousing, along with my colleagues, the values that the School holds dear that I do think of myself as somebody who is a student of The Browning School. And the award, I think, is a way for the alumni to say, ‘You’re one of us. Come join.’ And to that, I gratefully accept. So thank you very much to all of my students.
In his 51 years at Browning, Michael Ingrisani has been a teacher, leader, colleague, and friend like none that The Browning School has ever seen, and there is no one more deserving of the 2021 Charles W. Cook ‘38 Alumnus Achievement.
Re-read Mr. Ingrisani’s golden jubilee celebration piece from last year at tinyurl.com/ingrisani-50years.