The Late Start Show

In Episode 38 of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Mr. Stephen Murray, the seventh headmaster of University School, namesake of the Murray House, and current Head of School at The Lawrenceville School. Mr. Murray reflects on his journey from growing up as the fourth of six kids in northern New Jersey to becoming a lifelong educator, shaped by the public-school teachers who inspired him and by...

In Episode 37 of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Mrs. Lori Baris, the beloved longtime third-grade teacher at University School who spent eighteen years on the lower-school campus and still returns regularly as a substitute. Mrs. Baris takes us back to growing up in a freer, unscheduled Cleveland of the 1950s and '60s, riding the Rapid downtown to Indians games and playing outside until the...

In Episode 36 of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Mr. Peter Sweeney, University School upper school math and computer science teacher, founder of the US Robotics Team, and longtime veteran of both the tech industry and education. Mr. Sweeney reflects on his journey from a 12-year-old teaching himself to code on an Apple IIe in Belgium to a decade in corporate tech, sharing how an early love...

In Episode 35 of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Deacon Nelson, University School McKinley House prefect, baseball captain, and Auburn commit. Deacon reflects on his journey from a young athlete shaped by family and a deep love for the game to becoming a leader of a rising baseball program at US. He shares what drew him to the school, from the meaningful relationships between students and t...

In this Special Annual Fund Live Episode of The Late Start Show , we bring something a little different to the table, three conversations, three perspectives, and one shared purpose. In front of a live audience of students, parents, faculty, and alumni, we sit down with Ms. Kimberly Konrad, kindergarten lead teacher and longtime elementary educator, Mr. Keith Kneisel, middle school math teacher an...

In Episode 33 of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Mrs. Melissa Hamburg, eighth-grade English teacher, middle school English department chair, and varsity soccer coach at University School. She takes us back to her childhood in Georgia, where she grew up as a curious kid who questioned everything, and traces her remarkable journey to becoming one of the school's most influential educators...

In Episode 32 of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Dr. Doug Smith, University School alumnus (Class of ’79), longtime leader of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, and former senior wildlife biologist at Yellowstone National Park. He takes us back to a childhood shaped by the outdoors at his family’s Red Raider Camp and his early years at University School, where small classes, close mentorship, an...

In Episode 31 of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Tommy Nook, US Class of 2017 alum, former two-time Boston University lacrosse captain, Project 25 marathoner, and founder of Half Hitch Pretzels. Tommy takes us back to a childhood spent just outside Cleveland, growing up in a competitive yet deeply formative household alongside his siblings, including a brother with special needs who shaped...

In Episode 30 of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Mrs. Ashley Worthington, University School English teacher, Head of McCarraher House, and Anderson Scholars and Humanities advisor. She takes us back to a childhood spent between Virginia, Boston, and Ohio, growing up with her twin brother in a close-knit family led by a remarkable single mother, and to the books that first shaped her imagina...

In Episode 29 of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Coach Michael Perrino, University School’s new head varsity lacrosse coach and assistant to the athletic department. He takes us back to growing up in Solon, Ohio, in a deeply supportive family with his twin brother, and to the humbling first lacrosse practice where the ball flew straight up and hit him in the head. From there, we trace the r...

In Episode 28 of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Danny Sullivan, senior diver on University School’s five-time straight state champion swimming and diving team, Anderson House prefect, golfer, skier, and musician. Danny reflects on growing up as a quiet kid who slowly grew into himself, arriving at US in seventh grade unsure of whether he belonged, and how that uncertainty quickly gave way t...

In Episode 27 of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Adonis Wazni, senior, captain of the Public Forum debate team, president of the Student Investment Committee, and science researcher. Adonis reflects on growing up at University School as a lifer, what it’s been like finally sharing campus with his younger brother, and how joining debate in eighth grade helped him grow from an introvert into...

In Episode 26 of The Late Start Show, Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson sit down with David “Russ” Nobles, University School rapper, track athlete, and winner of the Sherman Prize Speaking Contest, for a funny, honest, and surprisingly deep conversation about identity, confidence, and chasing what you actually love. Starting with Russ shadowing Charlie back in 5th grade (and famously being most impre...

In Episode 25 of The Late Start Show, Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson sit down with Mr. Robert Sherman, University School alumnus (Class of 2014), NewsNation international correspondent, and bestselling author of Lessons from the Front, for a wide-ranging conversation that starts in Northeast Ohio and spans the world. Calling in from Abu Dhabi amid major Ukraine–Russia–U.S. negotiations, Sherman re...

In Episode 24 of The Late Start Show , Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson sit down with Mr. Jeff Pierce, University School’s Jr. K - 8 enrichment specialist, middle school speech & debate coach, and history specialist, to trace the winding path that shaped his life in education. From growing up in Columbus and thriving as a student, to studying history at Harvard, to a formative stint volunteering...

In Episode 23 of Season Two of The Late Start Show , we sit down with two University School seniors who took different paths to US, and found their place in the same community: Colin Milbourn, a two-sport athlete in football and basketball who transferred in looking for a bigger challenge, and Kingston Oliver, a varsity basketball player and cellist whose move to US brought an early culture shock...

In Episode 22 of Season Two of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Mr. Terry Lipford ’98, University School alum, middle school teacher, basketball coach, and Director of the REACH Program. Growing up on Cleveland’s east side in a family of educators, Mr. Lipford reflects on the early influences that shaped his values, community, discipline, and pride in identity. He shares what it was like arr...

In Episode 21 of Season Two of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Russell Breuer ’98, University School alum and the founder and CEO of Spot & Tango, the fresh pet food company shaking up how we think about pet health. Growing up in Shaker Heights, and later commuting from Aurora after his family moved, Mr. Breuer reflects on his path through US and the teachers, trips, and community that...

In Episode 20 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Tony Peebles ’81, veteran banker and finance leader, longtime civic fundraiser, Baldwin Wallace University’s Alumni Engagement Director, and a current University School board member. Growing up in Cleveland’s Lee-Harvard neighborhood with two educator parents (a PE teacher mom and a shop-teacher dad), Tony reflects on being an in...

In Episode 19 of Season Two of The Late Start Show , the second half of their fireside conversation, Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson sit down once again with Mr. Harmon: legendary science teacher, storyteller, and the driving force behind University School’s Outdoor Projects. Mr. Harmon pulls back the curtain on how the “outdoors” at US is really a living science lab, connecting classroom concepts...

In Episode 18 of Season 2 of The Late Start Show (and the next year of The Harmon Holiday Special), Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson sit down by the fire with Mr. Terry Harmon, legendary science teacher and Outdoor Projects advisor at University School, to talk all things winter on campus. From the first real signs of the season to the magic of a frozen Lake Kilroy, Mr. Harmon breaks down how the sc...

In Episode 17 of Season Two of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Mr. Dan Swander ’61, University School lifer, veteran consumer products executive, and co-founder of consulting firm Swander Pace & Company and private equity firm Swander Pace Capital. Growing up in the backyard of the Shaker Campus, Dan shares memories of walking across the fields to kindergarten, remembering every teacher...

In Episode 16 of Season Two of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Carter Loeser, senior football linebacker, Jarvis Scholar, and student entrepreneur. Carter walks us through arriving at US as a freshman, what the Jarvis Scholarship has meant for his sense of purpose, and how stepping into a bigger academic and social world pushed him to grow in confidence and ambition. Along the way, he refle...

In Episode 15 of Season Two of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Mr. Bill Conway ’45, University School alum, Yale football captain, mining entrepreneur, golf-course founder, and cornerstone of Cleveland philanthropy. He takes us back to a Cleveland childhood as the seventh of thirteen children, growing up in the shadow of the Great Depression and World War II while his father rose through Fi...

In Episode 14 of Season Two of The Late Start Show , we sit down with Z Cimoroni, senior, hockey and lacrosse player, award-winning percussionist, and Sherman Price Speaking Contest finalist. He takes us back to growing up in Shaker Heights, finding his way to US when Shaker dropped its honors classes, and walking the track during ILT with the friends who became his core group. Z opens up about wh...