Tom Darden '73 is the founder and chief executive officer of Cherokee, a Raleigh-based company that builds environmental technology businesses and remediates environmentally contaminated real estate. Tom began his career with Bain & Company in Boston, working with Bain from 1981 to 1984. Beginning in 1984, he served for 16 years as the chairman of Cherokee Sanford Group, the largest private brick manufacturing company in the United States and previously the Southeast’s largest soil remediation company. Tom earned a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar, a Master in Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a JD from Yale Law School.

Danielle Coon is the manager of Woodberry's school store, a position she has held since 2022. She has more than seventeen years of progressive experience with retailer American Eagle Outfitters, where she was an award-winning lead store manager. Danielle has extensive expertise in brick and mortar stores, online sales, and visual directives.

Ted Blain came to Woodberry Forest in 1982, where five years later he became chairman of the English Department, a position that he held for more than 30 years. During his tenure at Woodberry, he held the Rufus W. Higginbotham Mastership, 1984-87; the James C. Ambler Chair of English, 1987-2020; and won the George O'Connor Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 1990, 2002, and 2011. Ted is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and holds a graduate degree from the University of Virginia.

Dr. John P.N. Austin became Deerfield Academy’s 56th Head of School in July of 2019. Prior to Deerfield, Dr. Austin served as Headmaster at King’s Academy in Madaba, Jordan, and before that as Academic Dean at St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Delaware, where he joined the faculty in 1987.

A graduate of Williams College, Dr. Austin holds a Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy, and Doctoral degrees in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University, along with a Master’s degree from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College.

via Deerfield.edu

Frazier Stowers ’04 serves as the co-dean of students for the 3rd and 4th forms and director of Woodberry Forest Sports Camp. Frazier has a long-standing relationship with the Sports Camp, having attended as a boy in the late ’90s, later serving as a counselor and assistant director from 2005 to 2015, and then co-director in 2017 when the camp celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Frazier’s appointment as director in 2024 marks an exciting moment and a journey coming full circle. Byron and Frazier sat down to reflect on how Sports Camp went this summer.

Closing out the 2023-2024 school year, Headmaster Byron Hulsey ’86 sits down with senior prefect Mike Guevara Miranda to discuss his time at Woodberry. Mike is from Mexico City and came to Woodberry as a fourth former in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mike’s leadership potential was immediately obvious, so it came as no surprise when he was named a prefect going into his sixth-form year. He also achieved an even greater accomplishment, being voted senior prefect by his peers, the first international student to be named to that position in the long history of the school. As a scholar, a leader, and a respected classmate, Mike left an indelible mark on Woodberry. He will attend Rice University next year.

via virginia.edu

Brad Wilcox is Professor of Sociology and Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, Future of Freedom Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The author of Get Married: Why Americans Should Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families and Save Civilization (Harper Collins, 2024), Wilcox studies marriage, fatherhood, and the impact of strong and stable families on men, women, and children.

Professor Wilcox is the author and coauthor of six books and has written for scientific journals such as The American Sociological Review and The Journal of Marriage and Family, as well as popular outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and National Review.

With Nicholas H. Wolfinger, Wilcox is the co-author of Soul Mates: Religion, Sex, Love, and Marriage Among African Americans and Latinos (Oxford, 2016), which shines a spotlight on the lives of strong and happy minority couples. He is also the coauthor of Gender and Parenthood: Biological and Social Scientific Perspectives (Columbia, 2013) with Kathleen Kovner Kline. His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, National Review Online, NPR, NBC’s The Today Show, and many other media outlets. Wilcox consults regularly with companies such as Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Kimberly-Clark on fertility and marriage trends in the United States.

As an undergraduate, Wilcox was a Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia (’92) and later earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Prior to coming to the University of Virginia, he held research fellowships at Princeton University, Yale University, and the Brookings Institution.

On the newest episode of the Woodberry Podcast, Headmaster Byron Hulsey ’86 visits with Gray Robertson ’16. Growing up, Gray attended multiple SEC championships, SEC men’s basketball tournaments, Final Fours, and national championship games. Going to those events spawned his love for sports broadcasting and gave him a chance to meet most of his announcing heroes. As one of the founding members of WFSPN, Gray was able to pursue his love of broadcasting during his time at Woodberry. He graduated from the University of Alabama in May 2020 and currently does work for Crimson Tide Sports Network, SEC Network+, 90.7 WVUA FM, and Crimson Tide Productions.

In August 2023, Debra P. Wilson began her tenure as the ninth president of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). From 2019 until 2023, Wilson served as president of the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), where she led the organization through a period of growth and supported school leaders in her region through the COVID-19 pandemic. Her SAIS role followed 19 years at NAIS, first as assistant director of regulatory affairs and later as general counsel. In that capacity, she oversaw regulatory and advocacy work for the organization, supported schools in crises, advanced best practices in governance, and created dozens of legal advisories along with other informational resources. Before joining the NAIS staff, Debra was a tax litigator at the Department of Justice. In addition to serving on the boards of several schools, Debra’s board service includes The Enrollment Management Association (EMA), the Council for American Private Education (CAPE), International Council Advancing Independent School Accreditation (ICAISA), and serving on the advisory board of National Network of Schools in Partnership (NNSP), a division of Close Up. Speaking frequently on topics such as leadership and governance, school safety and risk, and community health and well-being, Wilson is also co-author of the NAIS Trustee Handbook (10th and 11th editions). Wilson received a B.A. in English from Sewanee: The University of the South and a J.D. from the University of South Carolina at Columbia. She is a graduate of the Williams School, an independent school located on the campus of Connecticut College. She is an avid reader, photographer, and cook who loves to be outdoors.

Tracey Nibblins has been a member of the WFS Faculty since 1999. He was born and raised in neighboring Culpeper, VA., and oversees the Leonard W. Dick Gymnasium housekeeping and equipment staff.