Had he not decided on a career in education, David Bourns might have been a carpenter, an architect or an engineer, perhaps. Bourns loves to build things. As a teen-ager, he spent study hall drawing crude blueprints for imaginary homes. In his free time, he built sailboats, toy vessels and a seaworthy one. He made the living room couch and coffee table in his campus home at the private and prestigious George School, where he has been head of school for 21 years.
Bourns loves to build things.
He has spent his career doing that. Not using hammers and saws, but a sense of justice and equity, humor and a desire to make the world a better place for all. At George School, he also has built a community, one that deliberately defies stereotypes of prestigious private schools as stuffy, strict, snobby islands for only the wealthy, privileged and white. It's a community that students and school officials say will outlast any high-rise, sailing vessel or piece of furniture. What I love most about David is that he talks to students in the hallways.