Llew Pritchard C’58 on mentorship and connections
April 2025 – When Llew Pritchard C’58 arrived at Drew University in the 1950s, he had no idea how profoundly the small liberal arts college in Madison, New Jersey, would shape his future. “I was just a kid from New York who had never been west of Philadelphia,” he remembered. “But Drew opened me up to the whole world.”
Llew Pritchard C’58
“I was the first one in my family to go to college,” he said. His high school guidance counselor mentioned Drew University, and he attended a Day at Drew open house event. “I was charmed,” Pritchard recalled. “The campus was beautiful, the classes were small, and people said hello to each other on the paths. I liked that.”
Pritchard, who would go on to become a lawyer, advocate, and civic leader in Seattle, found not only an education at Drew, but a lifelong network of mentors and opportunities.
Among those mentors was Robert G. Smith, head of the political science department. “He took me under his wing,” said Pritchard. “He taught me how to think about politics—not just as theory but as something rooted in your own community. He had us study the precincts we grew up in, what motivated people to vote.”
Smith also encouraged Pritchard to attend law school and connected him with Vernon Conahan, a Drew alum and trustee, and partner at a Wall Street law firm, who encouraged him to apply to Duke Law School. “We stayed close until the day he died,” Pritchard said of Smith. “He helped me become who I was going to be.”
Through Drew’s Washington Semester, Pritchard spent time in the capital during the Eisenhower years. “We analyzed and met with different areas of government, the Library of Congress, political campaigns,” he said. “We learned about government. And it opened my eyes to the way government worked and taught me lessons about different people. We also participated in political campaigns.”
Pritchard fondly recounted his honors dissertation cohort, where students and faculty would convene over tea and discuss dissertation research. “We would discuss different subjects in an intellectual inquiry way. It really gave me an opportunity to listen, to understand, and to debate and argue.”
He also remembered Drew’s convocation programs as pivotal. “Convocations took us into New York City to visit cultural sites,” remembered Pritchard. “I went to hear Renata Tebaldi at the Met, when Rudolph Bing was the director of the Met, seeing Madame Butterfly.”
The convocation experiences were often shared with his future wife, Jonie Ashby Pritchard C’59. “I was sitting on a blanket outside Brothers College one Sunday, reading the New York Times and the New York Daily News,” he recalled. “And a girl walked by and asked, ‘Do you always read both?’”
“We started talking that day, and we never stopped,” he said.
Pritchard displaying his original Elizabeth Korn painting—a wedding gift from the artist
Another key figure in his Drew story was Elizabeth B. Korn, a refugee from Nazi Germany who taught art and art history at Drew. “She was a passionate and formative teacher,” he said. “She invited us into her home, took us to the Met, and gave Jonie and I a painting for our wedding.”
“She was a fascinating lecturer and a fascinating person,” said Pritchard.
The Pritchard’s settled in Seattle, Jonie’s hometown. Here, Pritchard built an extraordinary career that blended law, civic leadership, and philanthropy. He served as president of the Seattle Symphony’s Board of Trustees, helped pass an arts funding ordinance that made the city a model for public investment in culture, and chaired the city’s largest arts fundraising organization.
He also became deeply involved with the American Bar Association (ABA), where he was asked to lead an initiative for immigrants, refugees, and newcomers. “I didn’t know immigration law,” said Pritchard. “But I could organize people. I could talk to them. That’s what I learned at Drew.”
“Once you meet an immigrant family, it changes you,” he said. “They want to build a life.”
This work led to a close friendship with Bill Gates Sr. and involvement with the Gates Foundation, Planned Parenthood, and other major causes. “None of that would’ve happened without Drew,” he said. “Jonie and I would not have met. I never would’ve gone to law school. I never would’ve come west.”
Pritchard also served as the youngest trustee in the history of the University of Puget Sound, where he stayed on the board for more than 30 years and remains a trustee emeritus today.
When asked what advice he’d give to current and future students, Pritchard replied enthusiastically, “Drew is an adventure in excellence. It’s a very good opportunity to learn for a lifetime. I wouldn’t trade it for a million dollars. My life has just been filled with excitement as a result of my days at Drew.”
