H. Hamilton 'Hammy' Bissell '29: "Doing What He Loved, In a Place He Loved"

Bissell, the Academy's first director of scholarships, with the girls field hockey team in an undated photograph

In 1926, a young boy came to Exeter on a scholarship. Seven years later, fresh out of college, he returned to PEA and embarked on a 43-year career that would touch the lives of thousands of Exonians and, as a result, forever change the Academy.

That boy – Hammy Bissell – returned to Exeter to teach after graduating from Harvard. Over the next 65 years, through a host of positions at the Academy, official and unofficial, he never wavered in his intent of service to others and to his school. Bissell was the Academy's first director of scholarships. In that role, he crisscrossed the country searching for students who were "long on brains and short on cash." Hammy followed "his boys" throughout their time at the Academy – serving as an honest counselor, a demanding coach, a sincere friend and a versatile provider of warm clothing (often from his own closet), tickets home in an emergency, athletic equipment, prom clothes and job connections.

Read the full profile of the legendary 'Hammy' Bissell, often called "Mr. Exeter," from a profile in The Exeter Bulletin, Spring 2001...

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