Lawrenceville School Names New Headmaster

Murray
Murray

Stephen Murray has been named the 13th headmaster of the Lawrenceville School, school officials announced today. His appointment is effective July 1, 2015. Murray will succeed Elizabeth Duffy, who has led the school since 2003.

“This is an extraordinary moment in Lawrenceville’s history. Steve is a world-class educator and a proven leader who comes to us with a soaring record of accomplishment at two of the nation’s most prestigious independent schools,” Lawrenceville Board President Tom Carter said. “He understands the great opportunities and complexities of leading a school like Lawrenceville – with rich traditions and a proud 204-year history – into the future.”

Murray is currently the headmaster of the University School in Shaker Heights and Hunting Valley, Ohio. He has led two year-long strategic planning efforts there and recently oversaw a $48 million academic facility construction project. As part of a strategic effort to increase access and affordability of a University School education for young men, he has more than doubled the school’s financial aid budget during his tenure.

“In a field of stellar candidates, Steve had every quality we were searching for – extraordinary academic depth, complete engagement in the school and larger community, and an impeccable record of leadership – plus countless other magnetic qualities. Above all, Steve is a person of principle, values, and humanity, characteristics which have allowed him to make an indelible impact on the institutions and people he has encountered in his professional life,” Carter said.

Prior to his current position, Murray was at Deerfield Academy. He joined the faculty as a French teacher in 1990, and continued to teach throughout his career there. He served as dean of students from 1996 to 2000, academic dean from 2000 to 2005, and assistant headmaster from 2004 to 2005.

Murray received his bachelor’s degree in French and political science with honors in 1985 from Williams College, a master’s degree in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1987, and a master’s degree in French literature from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1990. He is a 1981 graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy. He is married with five children.

“I am in equal measure tremendously honored and deeply humbled to be invited to join the Lawrenceville community,” Murray said. “I have long admired the School for its outstanding reputation, and have had the opportunity in recent years to learn first-hand of the students’ intellectual maturity and poise, as well as Liz Duffy’s fine leadership in so many areas. I look forward to partnering with the remarkable faculty and administration and look to contribute my own energy and initiative to the strong forward momentum of this extraordinary institution.”

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Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.