A Head of School Holiday was announced during an All-School Meeting in Elfers Hall on Monday, Feb. 18 in honor of Edward “Ned” Goodnow ’44, P’80, who recently made a $10 million gift to supplement the Goodnow Family Scholarship Fund. It is the largest gift for financial aid in the School’s history. 

In 2011, Goodnow and his family established the Fund, which provides need-based scholarship to four Goodnow Scholars, one in each class year. This new gift will allow the School to have a minimum of three Goodnow Scholars in each class.

In recognition of his long-standing dedication to and generous support of the School, Jeannie Weinberg Rose ’80, P’18, president of the Board of Trustees, presented Goodnow with a resolution that the Board adopted at its meeting earlier this month. 

In his address to the community, Head of School Craig Bradley spoke about Goodnow’s deep connection to the School. Over the years, Goodnow has been a devoted and generous supporter of Hotchkiss. In addition to the Goodnow Family Scholarship Fund, his family has made gifts to endow two teaching chairs in honor of Russel Murray Bigelow and E. Carleton Granbery respectively, the Goodnow Family Teaching Fund, and the Summer Faculty Symposium.

“Building up the endowment for financial aid is the single most important strategic priority of the School, and Mr. Goodnow’s extraordinary gift accelerates our progress and will have an immediate and enduring impact,” said Bradley. 

Goodnow himself was a scholarship recipient at Hotchkiss. His uncle, E. Carleton Granbery, whose two sons, John and Carleton, had graduated from Hotchkiss in the Classes of 1930 and 1931, respectively, encouraged Ned and his brother, Wes, to apply to Hotchkiss. Both did; Wes graduated from Hotchkiss in 1941, and Ned was awarded his diploma in 1944.

While at Hotchkiss, Goodnow was an excellent student and an active member of the community. He sang in the choir and the Glee Club; he was a member of HDA, and performed in theatrical productions; he skied and played tennis and football; was a member of the Photography Club and served as an editor of The Record. 

“Hotchkiss gave me a very solid educational foundation and more important, it greatly broadened my horizons’ and probably encouraged me to shoot higher in life,” Goodnow said. 

One of the things Goodnow loved about Hotchkiss as a student was the School’s exceptional natural surroundings. “This reinforced in him a deep environmental sensibility and commitment to environmental sustainability and it also planted the seed for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and exploration, including fly fishing on rivers throughout the world,” Bradley said.

Before coming to Lakeville, Goodnow attended public schools in Norwich, CT and in Riverton, NJ. During World War II, many colleges operated year round so students could graduate early and join the war effort. Goodnow completed his Hotchkiss course requirements early and began his studies at Princeton in the summer of 1943. He left college that December to serve as an infantryman in the U.S. Army. He saw combat in Europe and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, for which he was awarded a Purple Heart. After the war, he returned to Princeton and graduated in 1949. In 1951, he was called back to serve as an army officer during the Korean War. 

He built a career as an investment manager, first with Kidder Peabody & Co., and then with Goodnow, Gray & Co., the firm he co-founded. Today, he continues to lead his own investment firm, Goodnow Investment Group, LLC. 

He is noted as being one of the very highly successful investors of his generation. His discerning intellect and analytical skills have enabled him to identify immensely successful opportunities.

In his comments, Bradley recognized Goodnow as one of the most intelligent, kind, and gracious people he has had the pleasure to come to know in his time at Hotchkiss.

Watch the full announcement below.