 In 1937, when Alan Vrooman ’50, ’52 (Hon.) came from the Princeton Graduate School to teach English at Exeter, he intended to stay for a year or two—just long enough to gain some classroom experience and then move into a college position. Though Alan received his Ph.D. in 1940 and served four years as a Naval officer (1942-46), he remained on the Academy faculty for 41 years, and today, at 91, is by all accounts a living Exeter legend who helped shape a generation of younger teachers.
Universally described by Academy colleagues and former students as both formidable and generous, Alan is a lover of American and English prose and poetry who may be best remembered for his commitment to good writing. “Alan was probably the most distinguished and determinedly intentional teacher of writing that the department has ever had—at least in my time,” says Alan’s good friend and fellow emeritus English teacher Charlie Terry ’28 (Hon.); P’80, P’81, who joined the Academy faculty in 1967 and cites Alan and his first wife, Lois, as the reason for his deciding to come to Exeter. Indeed, many Exeter English instructors still recall Alan’s writing guide, Good Writing, long a popular department resource.
Alan’s legacy encompasses not only his English teaching and 30 years of successful lacrosse coaching, but also his tenure as department chair, during which he oversaw the hiring and/or mentoring of several of Exeter’s current master instructors, among them Dave Weber ’71, ’74 (Hon.); P’92 and Peter Greer ’58; ’81 (Hon.); P’94. Alan’s contribution in this regard drives home the point of how critical excellent teachers are to attracting and guiding the next generation of outstanding faculty. For Weber, who arrived at Exeter fresh from graduate school, Vrooman was “an icon of professionalism and fierce commitment to the students and the Academy who really gave a sense of what it meant to teach at a place like Exeter.”
Now the man who helped shape a generation of Harkness teachers and contributed so much to what Dave Weber describes as “Exeter’s tradition of teaching specificity, clarity and correctness in writing” has honored the Academy once again. Having recently sold his beloved vacation home in Maine, Alan has used the proceeds to establish a Charitable Gift Annuity at Exeter. “What I am, I owe to my educational experiences,” says Alan succinctly, “and this is my way of giving back to an institution that has given me so much.” Alan’s annuity will create a steady and secure income stream for him and his wife, Dorothy, during their lifetimes and has also permitted the couple to take a significant tax deduction. Upon their deaths, the corpus of the annuity will be used to establish the Alan H. Vrooman Scholarship Fund at Phillips Exeter Academy, which will provide financial aid to students who could not otherwise afford to attend.
Meanwhile, Alan will continue his status as an Exeter icon, a man whom Charlie Terry describes as “like Frost’s best poems, both earthy and cerebral.” 
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