Notable Alumni

Amy "Bellamy" Young 1987 is an actress best known for her role as First Lady Mellie Grant on ABC’s political drama series Scandal. She has had numerous other television and film roles on shows including Criminal Minds, Scrubs, CSI: Miami and Dirty Sexy Money.

Charles Ries 1968 was the U.S. Ambassador to Greece from 2004-2007. He served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs from 2000-2004, overseeing U.S.-European Union economics, energy, and public diplomacy. He has also served as the United States Minister for Economic Affairs and Coordinator for Economic Transition in Iraq, serving at the American Embassy in Baghdad.

Jennifer Pharr-Davis 2001 set the record for the fastest thru hike of the Appalachian Trail with a time of 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes in 2011. She has written two memoirs: Becoming Odyssa and Called Again.

James Hormel 1950 was the first openly gay person to serve as a United States Ambassador. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1999 to be the Ambassador to Luxembourg. He is the grandson of George A. Hormel, founder of Hormel Foods. Hormel was awarded the Asheville School Award of Merit in 2015.

Marisha A. Pessl 1995 is an author whose best-selling novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, made the New York Times "Top 5 Best Books of 2006 --Fiction" list. Pessl's sister, Elke Pessl 1992, also attended Asheville School.

Dr. D. Ralph Millard 1937 was one of 10 surgeons nominated “Plastic Surgeons of the Millennium” by the American Society of Plastic Surgery in 2000. Millard was a pioneer in techniques of rhinoplasty and cleft palate surgery: “he has virtually established the modern American school of plastic surgery" (Wolfe, Plastic Surgery of the Facial Skeleton, 1989). His brother, Hamilton Millard 1937, also attended Asheville School. Dr. Millard was awarded the Asheville School Award of Merit in 1978.

George M. Studebaker Jr. 1906  was the son of the founder of The Studebaker Corporation, maker of the Studebaker Electric Automobile (1902).

The Firestone Family: Harvey S. Firestone Sr., founder of Firestone Tires and former Asheville School Trustee, had three sons who attended Asheville School: Vice President of Firestone Tires Harvey S. Firestone Jr. 1916, Roger Firestone 1931 and Russell Firestone 1919. Three great-grandsons, Layton Register 1981, Charles Thiel 1989 and Geoff Gordon-Creed 1980, also attended Asheville School. Another member of the Firestone family, Robert D. Thomas 1927, became the President of Firestone Tire & Rubber Company.

Ralph E. Garner 1970 was president of T.W. Garner Food Company, primarily known for the hot sauce “Texas Pete” and Garners jams, jellies and preserves.

William Rickenbacker 1945 and David Rickenbacker 1944 were sons of Board of Trustee member Eddie Rickenbacker,who was best known as a World War I fighter ace. He was also a race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation.

Leslie Ann Keller 1977 is an artist and poet. She wrote The Art of Burgeoning: The Creativity Connection in Science, Art and Nature-- required reading for her course at the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement on the campus of the University of North Carolina, Asheville. She has also authored Artisi e Arazzi del Novecento (Textile Artists of the Twentieth Century).

Albert W. Sherer, Jr. 1934 was a career diplomat who specialized in Eastern Europe. He served as an ambassador to Togo, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea and Czechoslovakia. In 1975, he helped draft the human-rights agreement that became known as the Helsinki Accords. Sherer recieved the Asheville School Award of Merit in 1979.

H.C. Robbins Landon 1943
Landon was an American musicologist whose research helped to restore many of Haydn's works to the active repertory after more than a century of neglect, and whose popular books about Mozart countered many popular myths about that composer's life. He credited his Asheville School music teacher, Mathias Cooper, with inspiring his life’s work. The zenith of his work on the composer is "Haydn: Chronicle and Works," published in five volumes between 1976 and 1980. He provided commentary for BBC orchestral broadcasts, was a musical correspondent for the Times of London, and held teaching positions at Queens College, New York; the University of California, Davis; and the University of Wales, Cardiff.

Pete Dye Jr. 1944 designed world-renowned golf courses, including Oak Tree in Oklahoma City, The Johns Island Club in Vero Beach, the Harbortown Golf Course in Hilton Head, The Saw Grass Course in Ponte Vedra and the Ocean Course in Kiawah. He also wrote Bury Me in a Pot Bunker. Dye was awarded the Asheville School Award of Merit in 2002.

Frederick F. Wherry 1990 is a professor of sociology at Princeton University. He serves as the department representative for the Department of Sociology, and he has served as vice-president and president of the Social Science History Association. He has edited and co-edited many works, including Money Talks: How Money Really Works and The Sage Encyclopedia of Economics and Society: Volumes 1-4. 
Photo: Michael Marsland.

Edward L. Gaylord 1937 was a businessman, publisher and media mogul. He assumed leadership of Oklahoma Publishing after the death of his father in 1974 and expanded the business into a media empire which included The Daily Oklahoman newspaper, radio stations, Gaylord Hotels, the Nashville Network TV Channel (later renamed "SpikeTV" after it was sold), the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Television Channel (CMT). Gaylord graduated from Stanford University with a degree in business and continued his studies at Harvard Business School before World War II interrupted his education. The Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where the Oklahoma Sooners play, is named in honor of his family’s contributions to Oklahoma. Gaylord was awarded the Asheville School Award of Merit in 2002.

Roberts S. Blossom 1942 was an actor and poet. His career highlights from 50 years on stage and in movies include four Obie awards and roles in many movies, including Slaughterhouse Five (1972), The Great Gatsby (1974), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), The Quick and The Dead (1995) and Home Alone (1990). He published six books of poetry. His brother, Douglas Blossom 1941, also attended Asheville School.

Alden P. Yates 1946 began his 36-year career with the Bechtel Corporation as a field engineer in 1953. In 1983 he was named president and COO of the Bechtel parent company, Bechtel Group, Inc. Yates was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1986, and he was a was also a member of the Conference Board, the advisory council of Stanford University School of Engineering; the California Business Roundtable; and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Allen C. Mayer 1940 served as the Vice President and Chairman of Oscar Mayer & Co.

Herbert F. Johnson Jr. 1918 And Samuel C. Johnson 1946 were the third and fourth generation executives of S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., manufacturer of consumer, commercial and specialty chemicals and sanitation services. Brands include Future, Brite, Step Saver, Klear, Glo-Coat, Fine Wood, Pledge, Duster Plus, Klean 'n Shine, Jubilee, Glory, Shout, Glade, Aveeno, Raid, Off! and others.

Leigh H. Perkins 1946 served as president, CEO and owner of The Orvis Company, preeminent maker of fly-fishing tackle, wingshooting clothing and shotguns, traditional country clothing, artwork and unique giftware. Two brothers, Jacob Perkins 1932 and Ralph Perkins, Jr. 1934, and his father, Ralph Perkins 1905, also attended Asheville School.

Langdon Gilkey 1936 was an eminent Protestant theologian who wrote of the relevance of God in a "time of troubles." He authored hundreds of articles and about 20 books, the most read of which was "Shantung Compound: The Story of Men and Women Under Pressure"—a narration of his departure from the liberal Protestant belief system during WWII when he was a prisoner of war in a Japanese internment camp in China. Long based at the University of Chicago, his career also touched on aspects of the civil rights era, Vatican II reforms and the controversy over creationism and evolution. His testimony in a landmark 1981 case affecting Arkansas public schools helped end a state requirement that gave creation science "parallel treatment" with evolution.

Stephen A. Jarislowsky 1942 served Jarislowsky, Fraser & Company for 40 years as chairman, CEO and president. He directed the growth of the company to become one of the largest and most successful investment management firms in Canada, managing assets of more than $54 billion. In 2005, he published The Investment Zoo: Taming the Bulls and the Bears.

William A.V. Cecil, Jr. 1977 is the great-grandson of George W. Vanderbilt and has served as president and CEO of The Biltmore Company, which he co-directs with his sister, Diana C. Pickering. His father, longtime owner of the Biltmore Company William A.V. Cecil, Sr., served on the Asheville School Board of Trustees.

Reuben B. Robertson, Jr., 1926

Reuben B. Robertson, Jr. ’26 was the President of Champion Paper & Fibre Co., which had a large paper and pulp mill in Canton, NC. He then went to the Yale Sheffield Scientific School to study chemical engineering in preparation for his career at Champion. 

Reuben started his formal Champion career at the Canton mill in the fall of 1930.  After 8 years in Canton, Reuben moved to Champion’s headquarters in Ohio, where he rose rapidly through the management ranks to become President in 1950, succeeding his father.

During World War II, Reuben, Jr. joined the Army as a Captain and rose to Lieutenant Colonel by the end of the War.  After several other government stints, Reuben was nominated in 1955 by President Dwight Eisenhower to be Deputy Secretary of Defense.  Reuben served in the Defense Department until 1957, when he resigned to return to his position as Champion’s President.  In 1960, he was struck and killed by a drunk driver.  At the time, Reuben was also on the board of Duke University and the boards of B.F. Goodrich and Proctor & Gamble.