A recent bequest from the estate of Robert P. Hubbard '47 represents the largest single gift received by The Loomis Chaffee School in its history. The first payment of $4.8 million towards a total of $12 million was received in October 2016 and will be directed to the school's financial aid endowment.

"Bob's deep and generous commitment to Loomis Chaffee, and to educating young people, is an enduring symbol of the man and what he valued," remarked Head of School Sheila Culbert. "We are grateful for his past, present, and future support of Loomis students."

Bob, an educator and a longtime supporter of Loomis Chaffee, died on November 20, 2014, at his home in Walpole, N.H. His bequest follows many years of support to the school's Annual Fund as well as generous capital giving. With a gift of $5 million in 2001, Bob became the lead donor for what eventually became the Hubbard Music Center, whose 300-seat performance hall hosts a range of musical and other events on campus. And in 2004, with a gift of $1.5 million, he established the Robert P. Hubbard '47 Instructorship in Theater and the Hubbard Speakers Series, which continues to bring engaging and timely lecturers to enrich and enhance the learning experience for Loomis students each year.

In 2004, in response to an update he had received regarding student responses to lectures funded through his speakers series, Bob wrote, "All of you give me confidence in the future. As usual and as always, Loomis Chaffee is still the alert, active, stimulating and provocative school that I do so well remember from my years there. I arrived in my sophomore year asleep and was awakened."

A lifelong proponent and supporter of the advancement of young people through education at Loomis and other institutions, Bob requested that his legacy be directed specifically toward student financial aid. The bequest will help to further endow a percentage of the school's financial aid program, which awarded $9.8 million in need-based aid to 33 percent of the student body in 2016–17.

"The Hubbard bequest comes in the midst of the school's $100 million Centennial Campaign, which has now raised $31 million for financial aid," shared Christopher K. Norton '76, chairman of the Board of Trustees. "The commitment our parents and alumni like Bob have shown to financial aid ensures that a Loomis Chaffee education will remain accessible to students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, a commitment the school's Founders made when they chartered the school in 1874."