alumni interview
A Quiet Confidence An Interview With Bill Bennington, Class of 1979, Lifetime Trustee
R &G: For those folks who may not know you, can you walk us through the different phases of your connection to Cathedral School for Boys? Bill: Sure. I came to Cathedral School in 1975, in fifth grade. Mimi Lowrey, one of the founders of the school and a lifelong trustee, was a good friend of my father’s. They served together on the board of the Children’s Hospital Foundation. After a meeting one day, Mimi said to my father, “Bill should
Kent School, Occidental College, and he is now a captain in the U.S. Navy, serving in the Pentagon. After Cathedral, I went off to St. Paul’s School, Princeton, and then I worked in London for 15 years before coming back to San Francisco. At some point, as an alumnus, I got to talking with Deb Rockwood, who worked
in Cathedral’s Development Office at the time. Deb had set up an Alumni Association Council. I got involved, and I reconnected with Cathedral School! Seven years ago, Deb asked me to start a major gifts program for alumni. Greg Lee — a great friend of mine from the Class of 1978 — and I teamed up. We decided that an interesting way to do that might be to establish and raise donations for a permanent fund. We decided we would honor a very important member of the CSB family: Canon David Forbes, our founding headmaster. At the same time, we would honor our fantastic teachers. The school was approaching its 60 th birthday and Canon Forbes his 60 years of service; we thought this was the perfect time. Our goal was to raise a million dollars from the alumni, and, with lots of help from our
apply to Cathedral. There might be an opening.” I did apply, and I got in. The next year my twin brother, Jeff, joined me. R&G: Identical or fraternal? Bill: Fraternal, fortunately for him. We both had a fantastic experience at Cathedral. I graduated in ’79, and Jeff graduated in ’80. Jeff went on to
Jeffrey George (“Jeff”) Bennington, Class of 1980, in Grade 6 (Left), and William (“Bill”) J. Bennington, Class of 1979, in Grade 7 in 1978.
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