On November 18, 2022, Head of School John Austin and the Board of Trustees announced in the alumni newsletter From Albany Road that Class of 1953 alumnus and former trustee Rodolfo “Rudi” Wachsman had donated $80 million to the Academy’s endowment, the largest donation in Deerfield history. Mr. Wachsman is now a member of the Boyden Society, which recognizes donors who leave money in their wills, trusts, or insurance policies posthumously.
Mr. Wachsman entered Deerfield in 1951 as a new junior from Mexico, one of the few international students in the 1950s. His family had fled from Nazi-controlled Hungary in 1942. He was fluent in Spanish and Hungarian and before coming to Deerfield “spent 18 months in an intensive English-language program,” according to the Princeton Alumni Weekly. At Deerfield he played varsity soccer, squash, and tennis, and after his retirement in 1999, he became a Deerfield Trustee in 2017.
According to Director of Development and Alumni Relations Rachel Moore, Mr. Wachsman was an avid sports fan, and financially supported the Athletics Complex remodeling that began in 2017. Dr. Austin announced in the November 18, 2022 From Albany Road newsletter that Deerfield will host a dedication ceremony in the spring of 2023 to name the building The Rodolfo E. Wachsman ’53 Athletics Complex.
Mr. Wachsman also gifted the Elizabeth Wachsman Concert Hall in memory of his mother, which opened in September 2014 after the completed renovation of the Hess Center for the Arts. His mother supported the arts, particularly favoring the New York City Metropolitan Opera. The Deerfield Wachsman Concert Hall celebrates her love for both music and Deerfield.
After Deerfield, Mr. Wachsman spent his first two years of college at Princeton University and the final two at the University of Virginia. According to Princeton Alumni Weekly, he won varsity letters in soccer, squash, and tennis but left Princeton due to poor grades, possibly because of his intense athletic schedule. After college, he worked in business and served as the Vice President for Programming at Televisa, a national multimedia company in Mexico that provides broadcasting, cable TV, radio, and internet access.
According to From Albany Road, after retirement, though Mr. Wachsman traveled all around the globe — embarking on more than 100 trips — he attested that the Academy was the “center” of his world. During his 50th reunion in 2003, Mr. Wachsman reflected on his two impactful years at Deerfield and said, “The more I see and learn, I realize what a privilege Deerfield was and is.” He deeply valued the student life experience and the love for learning that Deerfield fosters. Extending his gratitude to the Academy upon graduating, Mr. Wachsman served on the Buildings and Grounds Committee as well as the Admission Committee.
Director of Communications Jess Day said, “Generally speaking, Mr. Wachsman brought a global perspective and mindset to the Board; he thought it was important for Deerfield to continue to have a strong international student presence and for faculty to teach with a global outlook.”
Deerfield shaped Mr. Wachsman’s exposure to the United States and he deeply supported “the study of languages, world history, and international affairs at Deerfield,” according to the From Albany Road alumni newsletter. Wachsman passed away in January 2021 due to COVID-19 complications but fully “embodied Deerfield’s culture and values,” as past-President of the Board Brian Simmons P’12,’14 said in the newsletter.
The donation is an “unrestricted endowment [and will help] underwrite everything that Deerfield is and will be in the future,” said Ms. Moore. She added, “We receive bequests from alumni that range from small dollar amounts to multiple millions. But never anything this big.” Mr. Wachsman did not specify constraints for his donation and as Ms. Day said, “The Academy can use it to support the school’s most important priorities now and in the future.”
In an announcement to the Deerfield Board of Trustees, Board President Leila Govi ’93 P’26 said, “We will always be grateful for his friendship, his service, and for his most generous gift to the Academy, which will enable us to launch new initiatives and fund existing programs for the next generation of Deerfield students.”
Mr. Wachsman is remembered as having “an open heart, an open mind, an insatiable curiosity… an appreciation for meeting new people… a contagious spirit of fun and vitality, and an unrivaled love for Deerfield,” said Ms. Govi in the alumni letter.
Mr. Wachsman was a tri-varsity athlete and active community member who loved the Academy and became a living embodiment of Deerfield’s core values; his commitment to the school that had shaped his most formative years is one that will leave a critical legacy. In his announcement, Dr. Austin said, “We are all grateful for and inspired by Rudi’s dedication to the Academy, and the entire Deerfield community can take pride in this intergenerational vote of confidence in Deerfield’s future.