50 Stories for 50 Years: Andrew Wooden, Board of Directors

June 29, 2022

To celebrate our 50th anniversary year during 2018/19, we collected stories and profiles of people and institutions that have helped us build our organization, which first began as one person’s dream in 1968. We will feature one story per week on our blog. Please enjoy these “50 for 50” profiles featuring ASSIST’s dedicated board members, dynamic staff, welcoming host families and enthusiastic ASSIST Scholars.

Andrew Wooden
Chair, ASSIST Board of Directors, Appointed 2002

I was admission director of Choate Rosemary Hall in the winter of 1989, and Betsy and Ken Lindfors were on my calendar for a visit. Earlier that year, I had decided to withdraw Choate from ASSIST membership because we had different strategic initiatives for our financial aid dollars.

At the time, Choate had a new IM Pei-designed science building under construction. I dragged Ken and Betsy along on an extensive tour, wanting to give them a full picture of the scale of our newest building. Not many people would have humored me on a tour of a dark, muddy construction site in the midst of cold, rainy Connecticut winter weather. As we walked, I explained my reasoning for withdrawing from ASSIST.

I told Ken and Betsy that although I had always found ASSIST Scholars to be stellar students and wonderful individuals who certainly added to our school’s international initiative, I wasn’t likely to rejoin because my top priority at the time was to attract science scholars to the school. This new science building was slated to launch signature programs in college-preparatory science, and we wanted students from around the world to come to Choate for a one-year scholar program.

I didn’t know that philanthropist George Soros was helping ASSIST attract eastern European scholars to the program—or that many of these scholars were extraordinarily advanced in math and science.Coincidentally, the Soros Foundation was supporting a summer school opportunity at Choate for Hungarian students.

Ken and Betsy connected those dots for me, and Choate Rosemary Hall rejoined ASSIST that year. We benefited from a number of extraordinary ASSIST Scholars in the following years, many of whom were among the most gifted “Young Science Scholars” to come study in our newly-expanded facilities.

About Andrew:
Andrew Wooden has devoted his career to working in independent schools, spending more than 40 years in a wide range of positions including teacher, coach, Dean of Admissions, and Interim as well as Permanent Head of School. Currently, Andrew is the Interim Head at The Buckley School, an 830-student K-12 day school in Los Angeles. Previously,Andrew served as Head of School at Marymount of Santa Barbara, leading the school to record-high enrollment and tripling the size of its endowment over his seven-year tenure. Previously, Andrew was Interim Head of School at Saint James’ Episcopal School in Los Angeles, as Head of School at Bosque School in Albuquerque, and as Director of Admission and Financial Aid at Choate Rosemary Hall. Andrew currently serves as a Board Member of the California Association of Independent Schools and Chair of ASSIST Scholars. He earned a master’s degree from Yale Divinity School, an honorary doctorate from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, and he spent a sabbatical year at Yale studying education and leadership. He earned a B.A.from the University of Maine and graduated from Williston Northampton School in Massachusetts. Andrew grew up in Maine and has been married to his wife Molly for more than 30 years. He is an avid sailor and squash player.