In late December, retired Hun English teacher Franklin “Frank” Dippery H’14 visited campus for what he thought was a casual luncheon with Head of School Jonathan Brougham. To his surprise and delight, he and his wife, Sandy, were met by Ralph Pisani ’88 and Kimberly Pisani and their daughter Ellie ’24, who announced they had created the Frank Dippery H’14 Scholarship in his honor.

The endowed scholarship is launching with $50,000 from the recently established Pisani Family Foundation. The scholarship “celebrates Frank’s warm spirit, sense of humor, and simple acts of kindness,” all of which Mr. Pisani experienced firsthand during his time at Hun.

“Frank Dippery was someone who had a significant impact on my life. He just made me feel included. He had a corny sense of humor—you couldn’t help but laugh at his jokes. He made me want to come to school, and he made me want to do better in school,” Mr. Pisani explained.

And he is not the only one who felt this way. Mr. Dippery retired in 2012 after forty years at Hun (and fifty-one years of teaching) with a clap-out that stretched from his classroom all the way to Russell Hall. In addition to teaching and chairing the English Department, he was advisor of the early American woodworking group, advisor of the yearbook for nearly thirty years, innovator of the “American Farm” interdisciplinary course, and summer school teacher—among other roles. He also provided the occasional ride to school for students (and faculty) who needed it.

“For a number of years, I was bringing somebody in. And there were certain faculty members who would need a ride in the morning, and I would pick them up too. It was an ongoing thing,” said Mr. Dippery, who lives on Cedar Hill Farm in Lambertville, where his youngest son Paul Dippery ’93 raises spring annuals, geraniums, and other plants.

While eleventh-grader Ellie Pisani, who just started at Hun at the beginning of the year, never had a chance to learn from Mr. Dippery, she and her older sister Ava, a student at George Washington University, are both directors of the Pisani Family Foundation. As directors, they help determine where the money is spent and were involved in the decision to start the scholarship, which will “provide vital support to a student in need, honoring Frank’s legacy for years to come.”

In 2011, Mr. Dippery was named an honorary Hun alum. In his bio, he noted that “I imagine if you visit The Hun School in ten years many things will be different, but the core will remain the same—teachers will be connecting with kids.” Twelve years later, his vision remains true, and he hopes the scholarship will enable more students to benefit from Hun teachers like him.

“I’m hoping that some student who would like to go to Hun, because of the scholarship, can make the decision to come,” said Mr. Dippery. “Because what I’ve seen of the Hun kids—and I’ve taught many of them over the years—they’re successful people.”

Mr. Pisani noted that other donors may contribute to the scholarship, and that this is “just the starting point.”

“I know so many people in my life who have benefited from scholarships like Mr. Dippery did. He still remembers the scholarship he got to go to Penn State and how critical that was for him,” said Mr. Pisani. “I could tell that he was really touched that someone would start one in his name. But I want to grow this to be a bigger fund so it can benefit more people in a larger way.”

As Mr. Pisani wrote in his yearbook, “Mr. Dippery, thanks for everything.”

If you are interested in supporting this endowed scholarship, please visit our giving page, select "Other" as the designation, and type “Frank Dippery H’14 Endowed Scholarship.” All gifts of any size are welcome.