Peter Black
Class of 1944

Peter Black '44 has the distinction – "a dubious one," he says with a grin – of being the eldest member of Reserve's Board of Trustees. A native of Mansfield, Ohio, Black first set foot on the campus more than 60 years ago.

"I wasn't a particularly fast student," he admits. "In fact, I practically flunked Latin when I first got to the Academy. But one of the things I learned at Reserve was how to study." Although he went on to earn his B.A. from Princeton and M.B.A. from Columbia, Black nevertheless maintains, "I probably never worked quite so hard as I did at the Academy. I was extremely well prepared."

During a brief career on Wall Street, Black discovered that he was not a very good salesman. "I was much too honest," he laughs. When a friend offered him a teaching post at Babson College, Black was intrigued. "I expected to stay a year or two," he confesses. Instead, he taught for 11 years and has continued to play an active role at Babson, serving as a trustee and receiving an honorary degree in May 2002.

Black has also played a key leadership role at Reserve, serving as co-chair of the Board of Visitors before being named a trustee. One way he has shown his generous support for the Academy is through the establishment of a charitable remainder trust. "From a tax point of view," he explains, "it's a logical thing for someone in my position to do. It brings in a nice income for me every year, and it also allows me to do something for the Academy. When you give to WRA, you can make a real difference."

This "elder statesman" of Reserve's Board of Trustees says he feels like Shakespeare's "flaming youth" in his new surroundings – a retirement community in Westwood, Mass. Although he has given up skiing, he enjoys Boston's cultural offerings, including the symphony and opera. Black also relishes trips back to his Ohio roots. "I always get a kick out of coming back to the Academy and talking to kids and faculty," he says. "And I've been so impressed with the campus changes."

Robert D. Bohan
Class of 1955

Robert D. Bohan '55, a member of the Reserve Heritage Society and Reserve's Board of Visitors, is president of Sanderling Associates, a management consulting firm in Sarasota, Fla., that assists organizations in achieving optimum results in both share of markets and financial returns.

After more than 38 years in business, Bob says he wants to "move from success to significance." He serves an active volunteer role with Reserve, and has made plans to demonstrate that significance with a bequest from his revocable living trust.

"WRA served as a foundation for the personal and professional success I have achieved," Bohan said. "The importance of education as a contributor to future accomplishment cannot be underestimated. My Reserve education helped me deal effectively with crucial areas of decision-making and problem-solving throughout life. It taught me to think critically about important world, community, and self issues which ultimately prepared me for accomplishment and satisfaction in life."

James Nobil
Class of 1948

A member of the Reserve Heritage Society, James Nobil '48 is president of JLJ Realty Inc., a real estate firm in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. In 1993, he began establishing the Erik S. Persoff Scholarship Fund to honor his stepson. Nobil will fund the scholarship with assets from his 401(k) retirement plan. "I had planned to leave a bequest to the Academy," Nobil said, "and when you understand what happens to retirement funds when you leave them in your estate, it only makes sense to leave them to a nonprofit organization."

Because most retirement plan assets are subject to both estate and income taxes, many people use them as a way to support charitable organizations in their estate plans. By using his 401(k), Nobil funded scholarships at the Florida school where Erik graduated, and the Academy.

"I became part of the Heritage Society a couple of years ago with the intention of leaving a portion of my retirement funds to the Academy," said Nobil, who is also the parent of Academy alumni James Jr. '73 and Steven '82. "We have earmarked these funds for the scholarship so that the fund can be of sufficient size to provide a meaningful annual award."

John Clark
Class of 1942

John C. Clark '42 has been a loyal supporter of Reserve over the years, serving as the Annual Fund class chair, hosting Reserve receptions and assisting with his class reunion committee. John has decided to help the school in yet another way. He has most generously included the Academy in his will. John explains why he felt this was an important thing for him to do: "Fond memories of Reserve motivate me to make it possible, in a small way, for some of today's youth to experience the social and academic rewards that I had." To him, his Reserve education meant a great deal and he can now help others to benefit in the same way.

John Kirk
Class of 1956

John Kirk '56, a member of Reserve's Board of Visitors, is a technical manager for a fast-growing computer software simulation company in Goleta, Calif. In 1983, he established the Charles R. and Dorothy M. Kirk Endowed Scholarship Fund at Reserve to honor his parents. This year, he helped his mother establish a charitable gift annuity to benefit WRA. Why? "My mother is 91 and rather frail," he explains. "She now needs full-time care. And it became apparent that she needed more income than her investments were producing. I suggested creating a charitable gift annuity as a way to get more income from a portion of her investments while also taking advantage of several tax benefits."

While helping to meet immediate financial needs, the charitable gift annuity also accomplishes other family goals. "I have claimed for some time that I was exposed to as good an education as you can get," says Kirk, an alumnus of Amherst and Michigan as well as WRA. "I am quite grateful for what these institutions have done for me. With that in mind, we started the scholarship. This annuity is a way to continue that. As I look at it, everyone comes out ahead."