Rick Broer Honored with Portrait

The Alumni Executive Board honored Faculty Emeritus Rick Broer with the latest artwork in the Faculty Portrait Series. Family and friends gathered in the Dining Hall October 12 to celebrate the unveiling of his portrait, painted by Birmingham, Alabama, artist Carter Laney. Led by AEB President Horace Carter ’89, the evening featured tributes from Headmaster Pete Sanders, Director of Annual Fund Claire Farmer, former Lower School Administrative Assistant Julia DeBardeleben, and alumnus Steve Threlkeld ’82. 
Broer brought wisdom, concern, and camaraderie to his role as teacher and administrator at MUS over 22 years. With a calm, level-headed approach, he emphasized scholarship and accountability as he challenged students to fulfill their potential. 

Originally from Oregon, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a Master of Education from Stanford University. Appointed to the faculty in 1973 as a Lower School social studies teacher, he also taught eighth-grade music, vocabulary, and photography, as well as Upper School American history and government. He left in 1980 to pursue a career in real estate for a decade, returning to the classroom to teach at St. Mary’s Episcopal School for six years.  

In 1996 Headmaster Ellis Haguewood drew him back to MUS as Lower School principal. In 2005 he shifted to Academic Dean, where he remained until his retirement in 2011. He also served the school on the Doors to New Opportunities Task Force in 2001, the Strategic Plan Task Force in 2004, and by leading the school through the SAIS-SACS re-accreditation process in 2010. Six years later he joined the Headmaster Search Committee. 

Broer fought back emotion as he expressed his appreciation for the honor. He concluded his brief remarks saying that MUS is more than a school. “It’s a community, a family, really. … We are all part of the MUS family. I hope that for all of you in that family, the words that John Murry Springfield wrote back in 1960 as the opening line of the ‘MUS Hymn’ are as meaningful as they are for me: ‘Dear MUS, how kind the fate that brought us to these halls.’ Thank you.” 

See photos from the unveiling HERE. See the unveiling video HERE.
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