The 2015 Alumni Service Award was presented to Jack Rhodes ’92 for his years of dedicated service to Woodward. Jack has remained involved with the Academy ever since the early years following his graduation. He served on the planning committee for the former War Eagle Classic golf tournament. In 2009, he was invited to join the Alumni Board, and he served for six years in a variety of positions, including president in 2012-2013.

Jack was one of the alumni involved in the initial planning for the successful Big Chill event, which raises money each winter for student financial aid and has quickly become a beloved alumni tradition. Jack spoke to Woodward magazine in the fall of 2015 about the reasons for his continued involvement with the school.

Tell us about your Woodward education and how it impacted your life.

Woodward prepared me for college, graduate school, and life after education by presenting me with a variety of options and empowering me to make the decisions that would affect my path. With the various locations and backgrounds that Woodward students came from, the school opened my eyes to a much bigger picture than I would have ever seen at my local high school. Meeting a variety of people from around metro Atlanta and beyond during my ninth grade year prepared me for integrating myself into a new group of people, something I have done on multiple occasions in life.

Tell us about your life since graduation.

I attended Vanderbilt University and got a degree in civil and environmental engineering. Immediately after graduation, I started working with an Atlanta-based engineering firm, Moreland Altobelli. Then, I worked as a planning engineer for Norfolk Southern Railway in the Design & Construction Department. In 2002, I enrolled at Kenan Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, where I received an M.B.A. with a concentration in real estate. Since 2004, I have held positions with Duke Realty, Carter, and TriMont Real Estate Advisors, all in Atlanta. I am now employed by Cushman & Wakefield, where I serve as the city lead for Asset Services and oversee a portfolio of about 11 million square feet of investor-owned property around the Southeast. The managing director of our office is another Woodward alumnus, John O’Neill ’89. My wife, Virginia, and I have been married for 10 years, and we live between Midtown and Buckhead with our two boys, Jackson, 8, and Thomas, 6.

Why have you chosen to serve and support Woodward?

Woodward Academy was an integral part of my youth, and I don’t believe that I truly understood the effect it had on me until I had been gone for a few years and had a chance to reflect on the experiences that I had while at Woodward and the friendships that I developed. One of those friends invited me to serve on the Alumni Board originally. It was an easy decision to do something to give back to the school. It has been very rewarding.

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