Trustee
Over his nearly three decades of stewarding Overbrook School for the Blind, Warwick “Rick” Wheeler has been guided by two tenets: What can I do to maintain the school’s extraordinary legacy and reputation, and what can I do to improve upon it???
Rick joined Overbrook’s board in 1996 and has since served on several committees and task forces - Development, Instruction, Strategic Planning, and Succession Planning. He was President of the Board from May 2012 through June 2019 and currently chairs OSB’s $20 million Taking Flight Campaign – which he calls, “transformative.”
Transformative is a good word to describe Wheeler’s imprint on the school as well. The son of longtime board member Alexander B. Wheeler, Rick holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from The University of Pennsylvania and brings to OSB decades of experience in banking and corporate fundraising. More than that, he brings to OSB an ability to think strategically and creatively, and an operating philosophy of “Why not?’’ to ideas that may seem challenging at first.
Case in point is OSB’s introduction and development of its CVI initiative. Called both Cortical Visual Impairment and Cerebral Visual Impairment, OSB’s “CVI Complete” was launched in 2022 after Wheeler’s request to staff to think “outside the box” resulted in a call for more resources to address CVI and develop curriculum around it. Dr. Beth Ramella, a renowned CVI specialist, was hired to spearhead what has quickly become an integral part of the OSB curriculum.
“Every day with every child there are little triumphs,” says Wheeler. “I always encourage new board members as well as others to visit during the school day. They need to see firsthand the joyful interactions between the students and education staff. Despite their multiple challenges, these kids are thriving and doing things that their parents, and even their teachers, never thought possible.”
Wheeler and his wife Mollie have been married for nearly 40 years and have two adult children. Among other pastimes, he plays squash, tennis, and enjoys hiking and sailing.
He also serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations.
Rick calls OSB one of Philadelphia’s many unheralded “hidden gems.” And he continues to work towards a day when hidden is no longer an applicable adjective.
“In the field of educating children with visual impairments, Overbrook is hugely respected worldwide for its innovations and the quality of customized education it provides to each student,’ he says. “This place is tops at what it does. The story needs to be told.
“It’s time for its place in the sun.”
