Dorothy Reid Jacobson

FAVORITE MEMORIES OF WILLIAMS

Any class with Lane Faison, Whit Stoddard, Bill Pierson, Milo Beach, and John Eusden

WILLIAMS CLUBS / ACTIVITIES

College Council,Dean’s List, Ephlats, Photography Club

CURRENT INTERESTS, PASSIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS

Kind to Kids (services to foster children), Food Bank of Delaware, Delaware Community Foundation, Delaware College of Art and Design

LIFE SINCE GRADUATION

My relationship with Williams began long before I ever thought that I, as a female, could attend the college. While I was in high school, the chorus of the (all-girls) Emma Willard School would traverse Route 2 to sing in Williamstown, and the men of Williams would join us to sing in Troy. That’s when I fell in love with the school and developed the first of many crushes on all things Williams. When the doors finally opened for women in 1969, I took a semester on exchange, then transferred formally in the fall of 1970. I remain indebted to Bill Mason, then new to Admissions, for letting me talk my way in. I was clearly one of the “10 percenters.”

Williams has become a real part of me. Almost every May since graduation, I’ve returned to Williams to swing a bat with other classmates—and now with their children and grandchildren—at the Annual Memorial Day Weekend Roper-Doper Triple Header Softball Championship. I’m a Doper, and we rule the field. I also connect almost every fall with Bill Boeger, Steve Barger, Judy Buttenheim Stevens, and our spouses for fun and frolic in some gorgeous locale somewhere in the world. This group is dear to me; we were raucous at Williams, and to this day we laugh ourselves sick whenever we get together.

Following Williams, I spent most of my career in DC and Wilmington, Del., helping launch and build strong, sustainable organizations focusing on built and natural environments, pre-K-12 education, and culture and the arts. Executive responsibilities include positions at the National Geographic Society, Partners for Livable Communities, Winterthur Museum, and Rodel Foundation. I’ve co-authored two books and numerous articles. My volunteer service is plentiful, notably in education, philanthropy, and community service.

When not in Wilmington, where we navigate Secret Service checkpoints just down the road from Joe and Jill, Jon and I spend much of our time in Londonderry, Vt., kayaking and swimming in the summer and fall, and skiing at Magic and Stratton in the winter. The leg I broke in college at Brodie Mountain healed long ago, and other recent injuries have mended. I can still get myself down the hill and swim across the lake. Understandably, my retirement years have been far more costly to bone and muscle than were my working years.

We travel. Recently to Cuba, New Zealand, Iceland, Mexico, and throughout the States. But Covid has meant postponing the Douro Valley twice, and canceling Madagascar. Although we haven’t been affected by the pandemic in tangible ways, we curate our “pods” carefully. Gathering for our 50th will be great.

Life is filled with eight nephews and nieces, and their 10 little ones, whom I cherish. When I am with them, my hopes for a saner world feel right.

As I said 10 years ago in the I am Williams campaign, “I work for educational, environmental, and cultural causes, swim with the loons, harvest vegetables, love art, and care about the Supreme Court.” Little has changed, for which I am grateful.