Laurence Gillelan Leavitt (1903–2000) was the longtime headmaster of

Vermont Academy Vermont Academy (VA) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory, boarding and day school in Saxtons River, Vermont, serving students from ninth through twelfth grade, as well as postgraduates. Founded in 1876, the campus was listed on the ...

in Saxtons River, Vermont,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where he succeeded in steering the preparatory school from dire financial straits to financial health by strengthening its curriculum and building its extracurricular activities.

Biography

Leavitt was born on April 1, 1903, and lived in

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

, until he was fifteen. A graduate of Quincy High School in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

, and

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

, where he was a star fullback on the college football team, Leavitt later served as assistant headmaster at Tabor Academy in

Marion, Massachusetts Marion is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,347 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the village of Marion Center, please see the article Marion Center, Massachusetts. His ...

. In 1934 Dartmouth College president

Ernest Martin Hopkins Ernest Martin Hopkins (November 6, 1877 – August 13, 1964) served as the 11th President of Dartmouth College from 1916 to 1945. Dartmouth Presidency At the dedication of the Hopkins Center for the Arts in 1962, the speaker, then- Governor ...

, asked to suggest a candidate for the troubled Vermont Academy, which was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, suggested his fellow Dartmouth graduate Laurence Leavitt. During Leavitt's 25-year tenure as head of Vermont Academy, he managed to double enrollment, retire the school's debt and made substantial improvements to the school's campus. Laurence Leavitt died at age 97 on November 30, 2000. He and his wife Dorothy (Hall) Leavitt lived for many years on Main Street in Norwich, Vermont, and they were longtime donors to Dartmouth College, where they established awards in field hockey and women's basketball. They also helped endow Dartmouth football's Bennett/Hall Lounge. Leavitt received Dartmouth's Alumni Award in 1925. Dorothy (Hall) Leavitt was the daughter of

Edward K. Hall Edward Kimball Hall (June 9, 1870 – November 10, 1932) was an American football and baseball player and coach, college athletics administrator, lawyer, and business executive. He played college football at Dartmouth College from 1889 to 1891 and ...

, a Dartmouth College graduate, early American Telephone and Telegraph Company executive and later professor at Dartmouth's

Amos Tuck School of Business Administration The Tuck School of Business (also known as Tuck, and formally known as the Amos Tuck School of Administration and Finance) is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Founded i ...

who, with his wife, donated the school infirmary Dick Hall's House to the college in honor of their son Richard Drew Hall who died as a Dartmouth sophomore in 1924.

References

External links

Vermont Academy, Saxtons River, Vermont
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leavitt, Laurence G. 1903 births 2000 deaths Dartmouth College alumni 20th-century American educators People from Norwich, Vermont People from Portsmouth, New Hampshire St. George's School (Rhode Island) alumni Tabor Academy (Massachusetts)