Les Larsen

Leslie (Les) Larsen, Headmaster at The Bush School from 1972–1987, passed on Wednesday, May 30, 2025. Les is credited with ushering the school through a period of change that established and affirmed many of the hallmarks of the Bush educational experience as we now know it.

 

Les began his first year—just two years after the school became fully co-ed—with the establishment of Convocation. A formal welcome to all students and an embracing of the possibilities that lie ahead for each of them. In retrospect, the ceremony also marked the beginning of immense and rapid change for the school. Under Les’s leadership, the school shed many of its more conservative ideals around student conduct and welcomed new cohorts of faculty who brought with them modern ideals. Les was often been praised for creating an atmosphere that was supportive of faculty innovation, as was evidenced by the creation of the Wilderness Programs and the infamous “around the world” bicycle and Sea-Cliste trips. During his tenure, students and faculty enjoyed growth in support and resources for the arts, as he created faculty positions at all levels of the theater program and opened the Benaroya Performing Arts and Teaching Center. The Action Module Program (AMP), now called Cascades and E-week, was also established during his time. Much of this expansion was made possible by Les’s commitment to and talent for fundraising.

 

Les was a good friend to many of the faculty and administrators at Bush, including former Head of School Elsa “Midge” Bowman ’51, who, in support of the school’s Centennial year celebrations and storytelling efforts, captured his personal reflections in an interview now available in the Bush online Archive (https://archives.bush.edu).

The Bush community was fortunate to reconnect with him during the school’s Centennial year in November 2024. Alumni, families, and faculty feel immense gratitude for the opportunities and innovation made possible by his steady and committed leadership.

 

“When given the opportunity to reflect on the essence and legacy of Les Larsen, my beloved husband of sixty- one years, I am filled with gratitude. Since The Bush School was the first school he led as Headmaster, it held a very special place in his heart and in mine. Indeed, the fallow ground of this school further inspired in him the creativity and vision that became a lifelong mission of leading others in the field of education—not to mention the dining venues he served with consummate skill as chef, par excellence! Our seventeen years here created a kind of Camelot, that pinnacle of dedicated energy, passion, and high academic standards that were Les’s guiding star.

 

Les Larsen approached people, programs, and policies with positive words and loving actions. He rarely became disillusioned or showed frustration. He generally saw problems as challenges or opportunities.

 

This healthy attitude permeated his personal and professional life.

Some notable highlights from his life start with Les being born on September 22, 1937, to parents who were totally deaf. His first language was signing. A special teacher in Grayslake, Illinois, Cornelia Roberts, nurtured his love for symphony, opera, musical theater, and drama. He also had an affinity for science, and his intellectual curiosity led him early to ask the big religious and social questions. In the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, before Les entered the academic world, he and two seminary friends created and served as ministers in the West Oakland Christian Parish (an inner-city ministry in Oakland, California). That, too, was a formative, and transforming time.

 

From Millikin University in Illinois, he went to the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, and from there to Raleigh, N.C., to fulfill a Danforth Internship at North Carolina State University. There he met his soon-to-be wife, Nancy Allen, a Southern woman who won his heart and cherished her role as his teammate and best friend for the rest of his life.

 

Their two children, Bush graduates Christian Allen Larsen ’87 and Ingrid Larsen Robinson ’89, occasionally shared their home and parents with other students whom Les and I took in for short or long periods of time.

 

Among Les Larsen’s signature achievements were fully transitioning the school from a female to co-ed institution and keeping The Bush School in the city. He loved seeing students involved in outdoor activities as well as in traditional sports. He started the Wilderness Program, which Headmasters and faculty since his tenure have refined and enhanced. He deeply valued building and providing support for a racially and ethnically integrated student body and faculty.

 

The Larsens treasure a vault of letters from their Bush friends and hope that Les’s gentle manner will keep special memories alive, such as the ‘animal stories’ of the opening Convocations, the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ bicycle trip around the world, and the ‘annual fundraising auctions.’

 

The Larsen family hopes that Les’s ventures and passions will continue to motivate people to reach for the stars.”