November 22, 2022
By BOB YORK
The United States Air Force has a motto: Aim High.
By the tender age of 6, Derek Green, who would grow up to attain the rank of Lt. Col., had concocted a slogan of his own: Aim Higher.
“It was the summer of ’69,” reflected Green, a graduate of Kingswood Oxford School (’81), on a time when the phraseology changed from “Man in the Moon,” to “Man on the Moon.” “It was the night of July 20th … a night I’ll never forget … it was the night man first walked on the Moon,” — and the youngster nearly missed it all.
“The astronauts were scheduled to land late that night, so my mother sent me off to bed,” remembers a resourceful Green, who snuck back downstairs after she fell asleep on the couch. “I got to watch the landing, then watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon. I couldn’t help but wonder, even as a six-year-old, how in the world they ever got up there.” And by the time Green finally tucked himself back into bed that night he remembers thinking “I want to do that … I want to be an astronaut.”
Green’s aspirations never carried him into space, but they got him darn close. Turns out, he came within the blink of an eye – literally – of becoming an honest-to goodness “Rocket Man.” However, the diligence he exhibited in reaching the final cut as a candidate revealed his mettle, while the array of experience he has acquired throughout the years in both the military and private sectors helped place him atop the balloting for this year’s New England Prep School Athletic Council’s Martin William Souders Memorial Award.
The Souders Award is the council’s most prestigious accolade and is annually presented to a person who has portrayed the same characteristics of leadership, vision, high ideals and accomplishments that Souders, the council’s first president, did as an educator.
NEPSAC also handed out its 2022-23 Distinguished Service Award during its annual meeting on Nov. 18 with this year’s prize going to John Mackay, a long-time St. George’s School athletic director, football coach and history teacher as well as NEPSAC board member and past president. Mackay is retiring this year following a 26-year stay at St. George’s, putting “The End” to a remarkable 46-year career as a prep school teacher and mentor.
NEPSAC’s Distinguished Service Award is annually presented to someone who has contributed significantly to both the athletics and physical education of New England’s independent schools through their enthusiasm, dedication, leadership and vision.
Green’s captivating resume checks all the boxes for a Souders vote. It begins with an electrical engineering job for Westinghouse, followed by a 22-year stint in the Air Force, during which, the Hartford, Conn., native listed occupations from flight commander to VIP pilot. In his stint as VIP pilot – from 2000 to 2007 – he transported White House officials from the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, as well as members of the Department of Defense and Congress throughout the world.
“I never flew either president … they normally flew on the 747s,” explained the 737 pilot, “but I did fly both first ladies (Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush) on numerous occasions.”
While based at Joint Base Andrews, located just outside Washington, D.C., Green’s outstanding level of work earned him two other prestigious jobs prior to his retirement. One was being named commander of operational support of the 201st Airlift Group. The other got him an office at the Pentagon, where he was in charge of 15 Air Force programs – including overseeing the maintenance of Air Force One – and given a budget of $6.3 billion to ensure everything was up to snuff.
In 2007, Green returned to the civilian sector and began a seven-year stay at General Electric, where he served as vice president and general manager of its Global Flight Operations Division, which meant he was in charge of all the company’s global flight planning.
Today, he serves as a consultant to many large companies as well as being the Chief Operating Officer for a major multi-use facility. In these positions, he serves as principal advisor and consultant to select companies. It’s his job to advise on execution strategies, efficiency, market strategy, senior executive development, business development planning, communications, financial forecasts and problem solving in complex arenas.
“I’m both honored and humbled to be receiving this year’s Souders Award,” said Green, who learned of his latest achievement while flying a cancer patient and her mother to a doctors’ appointment in Presque Isle, Me. “It was one of those wow moments. Then, when I got home, my wife Googled the award and when I saw the names of some of the previous award winners … names such as George H.W. Bush (Andover), Bill Belichick (Andover) and General Mark Milley (Belmont Hill) … I had a double wow moment.”
“Derek certainly has all the characteristics that the council is looking for in a candidate for the Souders Award,” said KO Athletic Director Josh Balabuch, who tossed Green’s name into the ring.
The two first met during the school’s annual Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies last spring. Balabuch was there to serve as master of ceremonies while Green was there to be inducted for his efforts in all three sports he competed in – football, wrestling and track – for the Wyverns.
Earning a letter in all three sports during all four years he attended Kingswood Oxford, Green played tailback for legendary KO football coach Joel Lorden, “who taught me the meaning of resilience,” said Green, “while I learned what determination was all about during my time on the wrestling team.”
It would appear as though Green saved his best for last every year as the spring season meant track season. He was voted team captain his junior and senior years and held the school record for the 200-meter run for four years, while his time in the 100-meter dash sat atop the school’s annals for more than a quarter century. And he didn’t slow down in college, either. At Tufts University, he competed in track, was voted captain his junior and senior years and culminated his career with the Jumbos by scampering to the New England championship in the 100-meter dash.
“We got chatting after the ceremonies and I came away being very impressed by the things Derek had accomplished in 30 years or so,” said Balabuch. “Then, a few months later when the council began looking for candidates for the Souders Award, I felt he would be a perfect fit.”
As far as Green’s hopes of fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut was concerned, he earned an invite to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in 2003, where he and the other 19 candidates in his group were greeted by the director of flight crew operations and promptly informed that “their chances of becoming rich were very low while their chances of being involved in a serious accident were very high.”
And with that, Green and his teammates – only two of whom would survive the final cut – set out on what he would later describe to “BuzzFeed News,” as “probably the most exhilarating, exciting and intense period of time in my life.”
One highlight of his stay at astronaut boot camp was a six-hour multiple-choice test that contained approximately 2,000 questions. “Only one hour of the multiple-choice test was on cognitive abilities,” explained Green, “while the other five concentrated on the psychological. And after those results were compiled, I spent about four hours with a psychologist and a psychiatrist. It was very comprehensive and you certainly learn a lot about yourself.”
As for an astronaut candidate’s shot of making it to the moon, much less even climbing into a space capsule tethered to good old terra firma during their four months of training were considered miniscule to begin with.
Just how miniscule? Well, according to “Space Pete,” the editor of NASASpaceflight ISS, “I can’t give you odds, but I can give you statistics:
“Every time NASA puts out a request for a new astronaut group, more than 2,000 people send in their applications … of those 2,000, about 500 receive an invite to boot camp and survive the first cut. From that 500, 100 will be interviewed … and out of those 100, only 20 or so will be actually be offered a position as an astronaut.
“Then,” “Space Pete” continues, “you have to complete two years of rigorous training before you qualify for a flight assignment. Then you have to wait another two years — or more – before you are assigned to a mission and then you have to complete about two years of training for that mission.”
“Space Pete” then closes out his commentary on an optimistic note – accompanied by a smiley-face emoji – saying: “However, contrary to popular belief, it is NOT impossible!”
And so, with all that good stuff in mind, Green survived two extensive rounds of testing and interviews before being cut prior to the final round due to a vision problem. He was diagnosed with a refractive error, which means his eyes were unable to bend and focus light appropriately onto the retina.
The problem proved to be so negligible that although Green was deemed unable to fly spaceships, he was still able to fly planes.
“Naturally, it was greatly disappointed to learn that I’d been turned down by NASA, but I was extremely happy to learn that my eye problem wouldn’t affect me flying airplanes,” said Green, who admitted, “I’d rather fly than breathe,” and he’s still doing both today.
Green approached his goal of becoming an astronaut with both feet firmly planted on the ground. As a youngster, he began researching what he would need to do to make it into space and quickly noticed that all three members of the Apollo 11 Mission – Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins – had a common bond. All three were pilots, while Armstrong and Aldrin held engineering degrees. So, Green quickly realized the first step to his staircase to the stars would begin by getting a good education. After all, this is rocket science we’re talking about.
“I knew that wanting to become an astronaut would mean registering for as many science and math courses as I possibly could during my four years at KO, because that meant I would have to be attending engineering school once I got to college,” said Green, who is now the proud holder of a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tufts, as well as a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and another master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama.
Green, who is a member of the KO Board of Trustees, admitted “the school proved to be a perfect place for me. As it turned out, I wasn’t as prepared to fulfill my dream as I thought I was when I first got to KO. I had to take a step down in math early on but I really connected with the teachers there and they really helped me get back on track.
“By my junior year they had me right on schedule,” added Green. “I was taking calculus, then my senior year I was taking physics and I was ready to go. Looking back, I feel blessed that I was able to attend Kingswood Oxford. The school and its teachers played an integral part in shaping my life.”
It would appear as though the KO staff, or at least John Sherfinski, anyway, hasn’t forgotten Green. In fact, the two have remained good friends over the past four decades.
“Derek was very quiet in class,” remembers Sherfinski, Green’s physics teacher, “but he was fascinated with the subject and you could tell he was very interested in the class. Any time you looked at him you could tell the wheels were turning in his head.”
Sherfinski, who recently retired following a 33-year teaching career at KO, invited Green back to speak to the latest wave of physics fanatics prior to his retirement and he remembers the proceedings went quite well.
“Derek told the students about being a test pilot,” said Sherfinski. “He explained to them about putting a plane into a deep dive and how the blood tends to drain from their brain and can cause a pilot to black out. It really got the kids’ attention.”
Whenever the members of the New England Prep School Athletic Council gather for their annual meeting, they like to set aside a portion of the festivities to pay tribute to someone who almost always ends up being one of their own. They spend the prior year scouring the landscape from Bridgton, Me., to Lawrenceville, N.J., for a colleague who infuses enthusiasm, dedication, leadership and vision into their beloved subjects: athletics and physical education.
This year’s selection process was made much simpler than most when it was discovered that one of its very own had been inspiring his charges with such traits for more than a quarter century – but who wouldn’t be using them much longer due to an impending retirement. This year, the track record and timing meant none other than John Mackay.
Mackay, who has been a mainstay at St. George’s School in Newport, R.I., for the past 26 years and who has been a part of the prep school scene for nearly a half century now, is due to hang up the last of the numerous hats he’s worn at the school for a final time this spring. Before he makes that last trek to his office hat rack, then closes the door forever, his partners at NEPSAC issued him a thumbs up on jobs well done by presenting him with the council’s Distinguished Service Award for 2022-23.
“I’m truly honored to receive this award … it means the world to me to know that my peers at NEPSAC think this much of me, as well as the work that I’ve done and the way I’ve gone about doing it,” said a humbled Mackay, who broke in as a member of NEPSAC’s District III when he first joined the St. George’s faculty in the fall of 1997. “I think the world of everyone I’ve worked with here throughout the years as well … it’s truly been a wonderful experience. It’s one I feel fortunate to have had and one I’ll never forget.”
Like most of his cohorts, Mackay filled numerous roles with NEPSAC as well as on the faculty roster at St. George’s. The native of West Hartford, Conn., rose through the council’s ranks to serve as president from 2013 to 2015 and has served as an officer for NEPSAC’s Football Coaches Association for 26 years as well. Among his chores with the coaches association was making a clean sweep of the front office positions, serving as vice president, then president, then succeeded Tom Flaherty for the past 20 years a secretary-treasurer.
Last but certainly not least, as a member of the football board, Mackay also served as liaison to the athletic directors, “and in that role we were able to adjust the scouting rules and expand the number of bowl games from four to eight, which was a big deal.”
Speaking of “big deals,” that’s exactly what Mackay has turned into back on the St. George’s campus – and not just on the football field. He is an Associate Dean at the school and occupies the Prince Chair in the History Department, where he has taught Advanced European History, Western Civilization and U.S. History. He also serves as an assistant to the Dean of Faculty and the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. During the 2020-21 school year he also filled in as interim director of the Humanities Department.
“I’d like to think that my teaching and coaching philosophies are similar and include
motivation, organization and enthusiasm,” said Mackay, who served as St. George’s athletic director from 1997 to 2016. “I greatly enjoy working with young people and I’m particularly proud of the number of my former students who’ve entered the education field.”
“Believe me, this award is well deserved,” said Mike Hansel, Mackay’s offensive coordinator, of the Distinguished Service Award, which he nominated Mackey for. “The characteristics that are written on that award … enthusiasm …dedication … leadership … vision are all traits that John incorporates into his game plan for success.”
Truth be told, Mackay likely might never have come to St. George’s, had it not been for Hansel. The two formed a part of the Peddie School coaching staff in Hightown, N.J., for a number of years, prior to Hansel leaving to take on a job at St. George’s. A few years later, both the athletic director and head football coach’s jobs opened up at St. George’s and Hansel felt Mackay, who had been the head football coach at Peddie for the entire 13 years he was there as well as its AD for the last seven years he was there, might be interested – and he was.
“The man has become an institution on this campus,” said Hansel. “He’s so loved and well respected by not only the scholar-athletes who have come through here over the past quarter century, but by their parents, as well. He’s always gone the extra mile for each and every one of them and they’ve all come to appreciate how he helped them prepare for the future, whether it be on the football field or in the classroom. He wore so many hats, he’s going to be a hard guy to replace.”
For Joe Lang, who spent the past nine years assisting Mackay with the quarterbacks, receivers and special teams, “this has been a bitter-sweet season. We all love playing football … we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t … but with this being John’s final season, it’s been tough on everyone. He’s meant so much to this program and to this school, it’s tough to see it come to an end.
“I think that fact was born out last week when we concluded our season with a 42-6 win over archrival Middlesex School,” added Lang. “If you could have seen the number of John’s former players who came back to be a part of his last game … to congratulate him … to thank him … to wish him luck. The turnout was truly astounding.”
“John’s served as an outstanding role model not only for the players, but for the members of his coaching staff, too,” said Lang, who has been tapped as the school’s next head football coach. “To see the amount of work he goes through every week in game preparation, you can’t help but go out there and give everything you have as well.”
The win in Mackay’s finale gave the Dragons a season mark of 3-5 and their mentor a final record of 79-122-3 to make him the winningest football coach ever at St. George’s.
“I think if it was just about the wins and losses, I would have quit a long time ago,” said Mackay, who has also made prep school pit stops at Winchendon School, Albuquerque Academy and Avon Old Farms. “To me, though, it’s all about the relationships you develop with your players and your staff of assistant coaches and those relationships are what I’m going to miss the most.”
Mackay, who year in and year out went to war with one of the smallest enrollments in a highly competitive Independent School League (ISL), admitted to “being proud of keeping the program strong.” And with that, he pointed to an undefeated (9-0) season in 2015, as well as bowl victories in 2015 and 2021 and a bowl berth in 2016. That 2015 campaign also saw Mackay named as the Independent School League’s Coach of the Year by the Boston Herald.
Ironically, Thursday, (Nov. 18) turned into a rather busy day for Mackay, as he ended up attending not one, but two football banquets on the day. Following the NEPSAC festivities, he and his trophy took a three-hour drive back to his boyhood home in West Hartford, Conn., where he attended a reunion to mark the 50th anniversary of Conard High School’s undefeated (9-0) 1972 football season. “I’m really looking forward to getting together with a bunch of teammates I haven’t seen in a real long time,” admitted Mackay.
“We were pretty good back in those days,” said Mackay, who was a two-way tackle in his high school hay day and would later go on – at 6-1, 205 pounds – to be a two-way tackle at Hamilton College. “We only lost three games during my entire high school career … two my sophomore year … one my junior year … none my senior year.”
While Mackay has become a popular figure throughout his NEPSAC family, he also comes highly regarded as far as his own lineage is concerned, just ask Robertson “Bob” Howe. In addition to being a fellow NEPSAC member, a former council president and athletic director – at Deerfield Academy – Howe and Mackay are cousins.
“I’m named after John’s father, Robertson,” explained Howe, who is about six years younger than Mackay. “And if that doesn’t tell you how close our two families are, then my mother always saying John and his younger brother Steve were two of her most favorite people in the world, certainly should.”
Being a bit younger than his cousin, Howe found himself in awe of Mackay’s athleticism during his pre high school days.
“I remember visiting John’s family in Vermont one summer,” said Howe. “When we got to where they were staying for vacation, John was outside exercising in preparation for his first year of college ball. As a kid, I was impressed by how hard he was preparing for the upcoming season and for the first time in my life I remember thinking I wanted to be like someone … I wanted to be like my cousin John.”
And in many ways, he has been very much like his cousin John. As the two have proceeded through life, it seems as though the more their lives have mirrored each other. Both graduated from Hamilton College, “and I think my going to Hamilton had a lot to do with John,” Howe said, “because I’d always ask him how he liked it there … what the academics were like … what the athletics were like. I became very interested in the school through what he had told me about it and when the time came it helped make my decision much easier than it might have been.”
Then, when Mackay became an athletic director, “I’d ask him how he liked the job … what it entailed and so forth and from what he told me, becoming an AD became more and more appealing to me.” And when Mackay became president of NEPSAC, “I was just starting out in the council, but knew if I stuck with it, I was due to become president one day as well, so again, I began asking him how he liked the job and what it entailed, so when my turn came I’d know what to expect.”
As for how his cousin won the Distinguished Service Award, that’s one question Howe never needed to ask. He already knew the answer, “John’s well deserving of it,” said Howe. “In my eyes, he’s always been a leader.”
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
Please view the full gallery from the event here.
Address : 
