Following His Heart

“The only word I could think of was avocat, which means lawyer,” Hart said. “That’s what I wanted to do. I liked the idea of having my own business, or so I thought.”

 

After earning his undergraduate and law degrees from UR, Hart, a 1978 Collegiate graduate, hung out his shingle in 1985.

 

As a general practitioner, he handled cases ranging from bankruptcy to estate planning to real estate to domestic to criminal.

 

“It’s hard when you’re a generalist to be a specialist in any one thing,” he said. “That’s been a theme throughout my life. I’ve just wanted to do lots of different things.”

 

It stands to reason, then, that after 14 years practicing law, Hart changed careers.

 

For some time, the idea of getting into education percolated, and in 1999, he returned to North Mooreland Road as his alma mater’s planned giving officer and assistant cross country and track coach.

 

“My professional bucket list included practicing law, working for a school like Collegiate, teaching, and coaching,” he said. “You have only about 40 years in a career. I was beyond a quarter of that, Collegiate was meaningful to me, so I called (longtime vice-president for development) Alex Smith, and it went from there.”

 

So began a 26-year tenure, which comes to conclusion with Hart’s retirement in June.

 

After 14 years in the development office, during which he helped build the Helen Baker Society, the school’s deferred giving program, he transitioned to the fine arts department, where he’s taught woodworking since 2013.

 

“I was searching for ways to be with students,” he said. “From day one, in my mind, this place was about students and faculty and coaches. Teaching woodworking was an interest I could pursue. It was hard for me to turn down a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. My father (Dr. Philip R. Hart) taught at UR. My mother (Jean Hart) taught at Collegiate. I appreciated the value that it had afforded my parents. I decided that if I was going to do it, I’d give it my all.”

 

With guidance and insight from his friend Dick Erickson, a former Collegiate parent and a skilled woodworker, Hart launched into yet another phase of his multifaceted career.

 

Since his Collegiate days, when he took an informal woodworking class from Smith, Hart has undertaken a host of woodworking projects on his own. To say that he’s found joy in teaching a discipline about which he’s passionate is an understatement.

 

“I’m able to participate directly in what education is all about,” he said. “I enjoy sharing what small bit of un-formally trained knowledge I’ve gathered about woodworking. Woodworking is the medium, the mechanism, for my being able to teach and relate to the fundamental purpose of this school. Collegiate has a rigorous academic program designed to send students to strong college programs. Woodworking requires a different part of the brain that’s beneficial to students. It’s fun to share a new discipline with students that they haven’t experienced before.”

 

Hart’s Middle School, Upper School, and summer classes have always been well subscribed, so it’s not uncommon for him to teach a student multiple times.

 

“I remember my father saying that a fulfilling part of teaching was when you had such strong students that they would start teaching him,” Hart said. “By the time kids get to an Upper School class after having other classes, they’re firing on all cylinders. They’re doing independent research on woodworking. They’re pursuing areas within a hugely broad discipline that I might not have pursued, so I get to learn from them. That’s very life-giving to me. I love it.”

 

Coaching was a requisite of accepting the development office post at Collegiate, where he played football and soccer, which was then a winter sport, and ran track.

 

In addition to cross country, he served mostly as a sprint coach in winter and spring track. As testament to his versatility and willingness to play a meaningful role, when the program needed, at various times, a hurdles coach and a pole vault coach, he took it upon himself to learn those events and convey his knowledge and expertise to his athletes.

 

For many of them, he was the quintessential guide on the side, a nurturer, and encourager, who recognized sometimes untapped talent and helped them develop skills they might not have known they possessed.

 

“Building confidence in kids is really important,” he said. “Running can be intensely pleasurable. It can be physically painful, but it has its clarifying moments. It feels good to achieve in an area different from the academic classroom. You put in your own amount of work, and you get your own amount of achievement. It’s always felt fun to be able to relate to students and athletes who are experiencing some of the things I experienced when I was a student.”

 

How does Hart envision retirement?

 

He’ll use his skills as a craftsman to provide TLC to his 97-year-old Richmond home.

 

He’ll indulge his passion for furniture-making now that time is more his own.

 

He hopes to do volunteer work with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Jamestown Foundation.

 

He’ll no doubt find other opportunities that pique his interest and allow him to express his creativity.

 

And, of course, he’ll have more family time with Ann, his wife of almost 36 years, and their sons Will ’12 and Sam ’20.

 

“There’re a lot of things I know and things I don’t know that I want to accomplish in my life,” he said. “I’m aware that we’re all finite, and there’s a limited number of years to do all the wonderful things I want to do in this world.”

~Weldon Bradshaw