WALKER SOCIETY PROFILE: Elizabeth Lindsay

“I was so impressed with the campus,” says Elizabeth Lindsay of her first visit to Woodberry Forest during the 1950s. “There was actual freedom—so different from the northern schools I had known.” A newspaper business convention with her then husband, the late David Lindsay ’41, meant a side trip to the Forest. Alumni secretary Evelyn Taylor and her husband Rawleigh took them on a tour and offered them lunch. “I realized then that Woodberry had been home for my husband for four years.”

Eventually it became a home for her three sons: David Lindsay ’64, who served on Woodberry’s board of trustees between 1983 and 1992; Bob Lindsay ’68, who served on the board between 2003 and 2009; and Ed Lindsay ’82. “Each of my sons got something different from his time at Woodberry. Woodberry teaches boys to not just finish a task but to go further than required,” she says. They also learned the meaning of character. She recalls a moment at a school commencement when some boys had been denied the privilege of walking at graduation because of last-minute misbehavior. When her graduating son heard someone comment that it wasn’t fair, he replied, “It doesn’t get any fairer than it does at Woodberry.”

Ms. Lindsay acquired her love of education and the arts during the first quarter-century of her life. Her father was a Purdue University professor in a community rich with cultural offerings. She began her own education there before moving to the growing Sarasota, Florida, after World War II. “At that time, the region was a cultural wasteland but full of people used to having access to the visual and performing arts,” she says.

Her determination to do something to improve the area’s education laid a foundation for a life of service on the boards of numerous institutions of learning and the arts. Ms. Lindsay served as chair of the Board of Regents of the state of Florida’s university system, the governing body of, at the time, ten state four-year universities and graduate schools. And she co-founded a consignment business, which has raised more than $8 million in support of arts organizations in the Sarasota Manatee area and scholarships for students studying music and the visual arts.

Ms. Lindsay served on Woodberry’s board of trustees between 1992 and 1998. She was especially focused on “moving the school into the computer era.” When the board suggested creating computer courses for the boys, she advised, “The boys will be fine; you need to teach the faculty.” Ms. Lindsay was pleased when Woodberry showed forward-thinking leadership by creating a handbook for ethical use of technology.

Ms. Lindsay has also been a generous donor. “Woodberry is run in a businesslike manner; it uses its resources well,” she explains. “And it’s absolutely tops when it comes to loyal alumni.” Among her gifts is the Robert F. Vasquez Mastership, which honors retired Spanish teacher Bob Vasquez and is currently held by English teacher Ben Hale. She has also established a scholarship through the Lindsay Family Fund. Woodberry presented her with its Distinguished Service Award in 2001.

As a member of the Walker Society, Ms. Lindsay has chosen to name Woodberry Forest as a beneficiary of her estate. “It’s always special when someone includes Woodberry in his or her estate plan, but it’s even more so when someone who didn’t go to Woodberry joins the Walker Society,” says Catherine Wharton, Woodberry’s assistant headmaster for external affairs and chief development officer. “Liz is a groundbreaker at Woodberry. She is one of the first women to serve on the board and one of the first women to join the Walker Society through an estate gift.”

Elizabeth Lindsay visited Woodberry Forest in May when she returned to campus with her son Bob for an event honoring former trustees. She was delighted to learn more about the school’s growth and improvements. But she was equally impressed that it still offers a warm welcome like the one she received during her first visit some 60 years earlier.