A: I am co-teaching Advanced Quantitative Finance to Seniors with Jessica Merrick

 

A: After graduating from RE, I spent three decades in finance, working around the world in sales and trading roles at investment banks before building and managing systematic investment strategies at hedge funds. Returning to campus as a teacher brings that journey full circle and gives me the opportunity to share what I have learned with the next generation of RE students. My one hour in the classroom a few times a week is without any doubt my favorite part of my work week.

 

A: The campus has transformed, but standing in the Quad beside the cannon still feels exactly the same—in the best possible way—preserving the traditional character and sense of history that make the school special. Its spirit and community have also endured. Standing in the bleachers at an RE football game, I feel the same energy and pride I felt in 1989, and it is amazing to know that today’s students share that experience. What has changed is the level of excellence across every aspect of the student body. Whether watching both of my children compete in state athletic events, sitting awestruck at an RE theater production, listening to the jazz ensemble, or reading about the speech and debate and math teams winning national prizes, the quality is stunning. The same is true of the school’s college admissions success and academic awards. Ransom has always been an exceptional school, but the degree to which that excellence now reaches every aspect of the student experience, regardless of a student’s interests, did not exist when I was here. The level of excellence at today’s Ransom is truly awe-inspiring.

 

A: Definitely graduation. Seeing seniors I will have taught get their diplomas will carry immense meaning for me.  

 

A: Mr. Chitty, my ninth-grade science teacher, changed my understanding of how I learn. I can still picture exactly where I was when he helped me discover that I was a visual learner. That realization taught me how to approach complex subjects in a way that worked with my brain. Today, I try to explain difficult financial concepts through both formulas and analogies so that students with different learning styles can grasp them in the way that works best for them—just as I did while learning Punnett squares with Mr. Chitty back in the 1980s.

 

A: I wouldn’t cite one single moment. What I remember most is the carefree feeling of sitting on the senior benches laughing with my friends. Our whole world lay ahead of us, and we shared such joy in simply being together. I love walking around campus today and seeing students living those same moments. It takes me right back to my friends and me at that same point in our lives.