Oxford Hills grad weds philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, one of world’s richest people

As the son of an Advent Christian minister, Dan Jewett learned the importance of giving to and serving others.

The 1994 graduate of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris is now in a position to give to and serve people far beyond his wildest dreams.

Jewett revealed Saturday on the website The Giving Pledge that he married MacKenzie Scott, the philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Scott is the 13th-richest person in America and 22nd richest in the world, according to Forbes, with a net worth of $53.5 billion.

Dan Jewett and his wife, MacKenzie Scott. Jewett is a 1994 graduate of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris. The Giving Pledge photo

About 44 years old, Jewett has been a chemistry teacher at Lakeside School, a private institution in Seattle where Scott’s children attended, since 2016. He is no longer listed as a teacher on the website at the grades 5-12 school with a tuition of $38,000. Its alumni include Bill Gates and Paul Allen, co-founders of Microsoft.

“It is strange to be writing a letter indicating I plan to give away the majority of my wealth during my lifetime, as I have never sought to gather the kind of wealth required to feel like saying such a thing would have particular meaning,” Jewett wrote on The Giving Pledge website.

“I have been a teacher for the majority of my life, as well as a grateful student of the generosity of those around me,” he added. “This has meant doing my best to follow their example by passing on resources of all kinds — from time, to energy, to material possessions — when I have had them to give. And now, in a stroke of happy coincidence, I am married to one of the most generous and kind people I know — and joining her in a commitment to pass on an enormous financial wealth to serve others.”

Scott, 50, divorced Bezos in 2019 after 25 years of marriage and has pledged a life of philanthropy by giving away much of her fortune.

Dan Jewett, a member of the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Class of 1994. Yearbook photo

“Dan is such a great guy, and I am happy and excited for the both of them,” Bezos said in a statement through an Amazon spokesman and reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Jewett’s father, the Rev. Frank Jewett of Massachusetts, confirmed his son’s marriage to Scott.

According to one of his former parishioners at the Oxford Advent Christian Church on Route 26, Frank Jewett released a statement from him and his wife, Judith, saying, “We are very happy for Dan and MacKenzie.”

Jewett was most recently the pastor at Haverhill Advent Christian Church. All three of his children, Dan, Tim and Letitia, graduated from Oxford Hills.

Roger Twitchell, a retired science teacher at the high school, said Dan was in his physics class.

“He was a good kid,” Twitchell said. “He was a good friend of my son. I liked him. He’s well respected.”

He added that Jewett was a groomsman at his son’s wedding. When he heard the news Monday morning of Jewett’s marriage to Scott, Twitchell admitted, “it just blew my mind.”

Meredith Merrill Frost, a former classmate of Dan, echoed Twitchell’s feelings.

“I always just remember, he was a great guy, everybody liked him,” Frost said via phone Monday afternoon.

According to his high school yearbook, Jewett was a member of the Viking Choir and Viking Voices his junior and senior years. He also played in the band as a junior.

Jewett graduated from Eastern University, a Christian school located near Philadelphia. Before coming to Lakeside, Jewett taught chemistry at the Bush School, another private school in Seattle, from 2001 to 2016.

It is unclear if Jewett had a hand in it, but The Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn was one of 384 organizations across the country that will share more than $4 billion in donations from Scott when it was announced in December.

According to Bloomberg, Scott donated more than $6 billion last year.

Scott in 2019 signed on to The Giving Pledge, a campaign founded by Warren Buffett, that encourages billionaires to donate at least half of their wealth during their lifetime. Others who have made the pledge include Bill and Melinda Gates, Elon Musk and Michael Bloomberg.

Jewett appears fully committed to join Scott in this life of philanthropy.

“We are united in that understanding and in our excitement for all we have to learn from so many people working in service of others,” he said. “With that as a foundation, I join with the kindest and most thoughtful person I know in making this pledge, grateful for the exceptional privilege it will be to partner in giving away assets with the potential to do so much good when shared.”

“I am sure that this pledge will benefit me as much as it benefits anyone else served by it,” he said. “I look forward to the growth and learning I have ahead as a part of this undertaking with MacKenzie,” he added.