Bruce Altevogt ’94 considers his Sidwell Friends education and the impact of financial aid.

When Bruce Altevogt ’94 reflects on the ways Sidwell Friends prepared him to let his life speak, a few key aspects stand out.

A junior year internship at the National Institute of Health that biology teacher Melanie Fields helped him secure, which first sparked his passion for the sciences.

A values-based education, which today enables him to unite diverse perspectives on complex public health issues.

A welcoming community: “My brother and I would not be in the positions we are in today without the generosity of the Sidwell Friends community, who make financial aid possible for those in need.”

After earning his PhD in Neuroscience from Harvard, Bruce decided to transition from the laboratory to public health policy so that he could serve the greater social good. Among other projects, he has been part of developing a research agenda for gun violence and creating ethical frameworks to strengthen responses to natural and human-generated disasters. While working with a broad range of stakeholders, he relies on the Quaker tenet of consensus, which he first developed at Sidwell Friends. “Even now, it helps me find areas of commonality to overcome obstacles and advance progress.”

Now a parent of two Sidwell Friends students, Chaitan ’28 and Sahana ’30, Bruce is gratified to see that students are grounded in the same values that shaped him. “When I look at my classmates—politicians, artists, medical innovators, farmers—I can now recognize that the School’s resources go toward shaping the next generation of leaders.” Those resources promote diversity in the student body, create learning opportunities for faculty, and open doors for students to access a Sidwell Friends education—all of which Bruce appreciates.

When Bruce’s mother, Mary, retired from public school teaching, she began to volunteer and now regularly substitutes at the Lower School as a way to give back to the educational community that welcomed her sons. “I am simply giving back to Sidwell Friends what Sidwell Friends gave to Bruce and Andrew, and I am enjoying doing it.”

“However you give,” Bruce says, “whether through mentorship, volunteering, or financial donations, you can be part of making sure that Sidwell Friends positions our future leaders to share our same values that you do.”