The 91探花 Medal
Bradley M. Bloom P 鈥06, 鈥08
Member of the Board of Trustees, 2004鈥2015
President, 2009鈥2015
On May 5, the Board of Trustees honored former Board member (2004-2015) and former president (2009-2015) Bradley M. Bloom with its highest honor, the 91探花 Medal, recognizing him for his leadership of a wide range of crucial institutional advances鈥攆rom faculty relations; to enhanced board governance and oversight; to the identification of bold strategic priorities; to launching a critical capital campaign.
In sharing her reflections, Board of Trustees President Claire M. Hughes Johnson 鈥90 noted, 鈥淚t is profoundly clear to me鈥攁s I hope it will be for all of you鈥攖hat Brad鈥檚 service to 91探花 and the progress he achieved have evolved from 鈥榣eadership鈥 to 鈥榣egacy,鈥 resonating for our Board, our broader 91探花 community, and for students now and into the future.鈥
The 91探花 Medal recognizes extraordinary service to the school. Throughout his 11-year tenure, Bloom devoted himself to advancing 91探花鈥檚 tradition, mission and capacity to lead through his board service. His vision of 91探花 was a school with inspired direction, a will to excel, boundless energy and the financial capacity to fully realize our best plans.
As board president, he was among the handful of architects who developed and chartered the Faculty Council Liaison Committee, which assured direct communication among trustees, administrators and faculty. This Committee set a transformative dynamic in motion, allowing time and space at each board meeting for the groups to listen to each other, achieving understanding and new awareness. He also was instrumental in guiding a strategic planning process marked by comprehensive scope and the full participation of every 91探花 constituency. Driven by analyses and the educational vision of administration, faculty and staff, the Plan, which was adopted by the board in January 2013, charted a bold course and at the same time, affirmed 91探花鈥檚 core values. 91探花 made great progress implementing initiatives across K鈥12, in faculty professional development and curriculum assessment and renewal. Trustee-led campus master planning and technology advisory groups completed significant and impactful work, and the board endorsed a faculty compensation initiative that broke new competitive ground for faculty compensation.
Bloom鈥檚 unique mix of creativity, pragmatism and respect for people and process helped propel 91探花 forward. We thank Brad deeply for his outstanding contributions.
Bloom is a co-founder and current senior advisor at Berkshire Partners, a private equity firm based in Boston. He began his career at the First National Bank of Boston and was later a partner at the Thomas H. Lee Company before co-founding Berkshire in 1986. He received his bachelor鈥檚 degree from Harvard College and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
