In recognition of a lifetime of service and his steadfast dedication to Taft, Holcombe T. Green Jr. ’57 will be honored with the 2025 Horace Dutton Taft Alumni Medal.

“Few, if any, Taft graduates have served both their school and their community throughout their lifetime with the warmth, imagination, intelligence, and generosity of this year's Horace Dutton Taft Alumni Medal recipient, Holcombe Green,” noted John Merrow II ’59. “For the past 12 years, I've had the privilege of serving on the Committee that selects the recipient, and this year's decision was perhaps the easiest we've ever made.”

After graduating from Taft, Holcombe earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Yale University. His life of service began in earnest immediately following his Yale graduation in 1961; he served his country as a member of the United States Navy for the next four years.

Holcombe graduated from University of Virginia School of Law and spent 20 years working as an attorney before founding Green Capital Investors, L.P. and becoming chairman and CEO of WestPoint Stevens. In 2014 he cofounded the private equity firm Birch Equity Partners. Over the years, his professional appointments included time as CEO of HBO & Company, Director of Cumulus Media, Inc., and, among others, positions with Lingo communications, Fusion Connect, and Hansell & Post. He has been politically active throughout his life, volunteering on presidential, congressional, senate, and local mayoral campaigns.

With his wife Nancy (Hall), Holcombe raised two sons, Holcombe T. Green III ’87 and Frank H. Green ’91, while dedicating himself to advancing the ongoing work of the schools that helped shape him—Taft, Yale, and the University of Virginia—through work as a trustee, fund raiser, and donor. As a director at Family First, Holcombe supported programs that built resiliency, provided resources and education, and improved the lives of families facing complex challenges in Atlanta, GA. His support of organizations was essential to the growth and preservation of the arts in Atlanta—from the Atlanta Ballet and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to the Woodruff Art Center and the High Museum of Art.

“Holcombe’s Taft and Yale legacies are built on deep, enduring, and shared visions for the future of each school,” said Head of School Peter Becker ’95. “His contributions to his hometown of Atlanta are no less visionary. Holcombe’s dedication to the arts reflects his deep understanding of the Taft school mission to educate the whole student, while his philanthropic endeavors reflect his full embrace of the Taft School motto, Not to be served, but to serve.”

The Horace Dutton Taft Alumni Medal is given each year to a person whose life work best reflects the essence of the Taft School motto: Non ut sibi ministretur sed ut ministret; Not to be served but to serve.

For more info on the Horace Dutton Taft Medal, click here.