Honoring members of our community

Bernie Buonanno, a longstanding volunteer leader at MB, received the Service to Alma Mater Award. He is a former board chair, parent, and now grandparent.

 

Bernie was a stand-out basketball player for MB and is a member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. It was especially meaningful for Bernie to receive his award in the renovated Walter Jones Library. The building was originally the school gym and the home of the MB basketball team, where Bernie dominated games with a silky jump shot and tenacious defense.   

 

In keeping with family team spirit, a number of Buonanno family members were on hand to celebrate Bernie’s award. Three of his five children are MB graduates and his daughter Carolyn Buonanno Chase teaches in the middle school. Bernie has three grandchildren at MB as current students and enjoyed seeing two granddaughters receive their Moses Brown diplomas recently.

 

Beyond his deep family connections to Moses Brown, Bernie is one of the longest standing and most committed volunteer leaders the school has ever known.  A former MB Board Chair, he served as a trustee from 1978-1987 and was chair of the Board from 1982-1987.  He was a co-chair of the Campaign for Moses Brown School, a $26 million effort that ended in 2007 – at that point, by far the largest fundraising campaign in school history.

 

Bernie also chaired the 1994 Head of School search committee that led to the hiring of Matt Glendinning’s predecessor Joanne Hoffman.

 

It’s impossible to count the number of events Bernie has hosted for MB through the years or the number of alumni phonathons he’s attended. Today, Bernie continues to volunteer for MB. For decades he has been a member of his class reunion committees, most recently helping to organize his 60th reunion for the Class of ’55 in 2015.  Earlier this fall, Bernie was on campus at an annual meeting of former MB Board Chairs.

 

Bernie’s spirit of volunteerism and leadership extends well beyond MB, including six years as a trustee at his other alma mater, Brown University. He received his J.D. from Georgetown University and is a partner with Riparian Partners.

 

Rumor has it that Bernie has witnessed more MB athletic contests than any alum in history, between his own and those of his offspring!

 

The Service to Alma Mater Award recognizes a graduate for outstanding service to Moses Brown School. This person’s contributions are long-term, extensive, and speak to MB's proud tradition of service to community; their work forwards the mission of Moses Brown and makes a lasting difference in our community. Previous recipients of the Service to Alma Mater Award include Theodore Low '44, Russell Carpenter '59, Barry Fain '60, Darrell Ross '65, Emily Low Boening '81, and Ted Winston '74.

 

The Moses Brown Alumni Association also honored RISD graduate Willem Van Lancker with the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award at Homecoming. Willem is an entrepreneur and product designer well-known as the co-founder and chief product officer of Oyster (recently acquired by Google). He’s designed at Google Maps, Apple, and Adidas and created the logo found on Rhode Island’s Yacht Club Soda bottles. His work has been recognized by the Museum of Modern Art, the New Yorker, the New York Times, Fast Company, and the Wall Street Journal. Last year, he was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. Willem is now a creative angel investor and an advisor to Designer Fund.