Westminster School Headmaster Graham Cole Announces 2010 Departure

Westminster School Headmaster Graham Cole announced today that he will step down as headmaster in June 2010, at the end of his 17th year leading Westminster and his 37th year in secondary education. He was appointed Westminster’s seventh headmaster in 1993, and under his leadership, the school has grown in every respect.

“Carol and I have always hoped that we would know when the time would be right to step away, and in our view, that time has come,” said Graham. “By June 2010, the school will have brought its second strategic plan to a successful completion, raised more dollars than all of our previous capital campaigns combined, and spent an inaugural year in our magnificent new academic center. Most important to me, however, is that throughout this period of success and progress, we have been able to sustain and enhance our ethos, our identity and our core values.

“Looking ahead, I feel strongly that the responsibility for shaping and leading the next strategic plan for the school should fall to a new headmaster and that it will be healthy for the school to have some fresh perspectives.” He added that he and Carol have no definitive future plans at the moment.

Chairman of the Westminster Board of Trustees John Armour ’76 praised Graham’s many contributions to the school. “While we are saddened by Graham’s and Carol’s decision to retire, we feel blessed that we will have had 17 years of Graham’s outstanding leadership at Westminster,” said John. “It has been a tenure during which we have been able to strengthen the school’s finances dramatically, make major additions to the physical plant and enhance significantly its programs and reputation, all the while remaining faithful to the school’s core mission and values.”

John announced formation of a search committee in the coming weeks to identify a new head of school by December of this year. The new headmaster is expected to join Westminster in June 2010, following Graham’s departure. The search committee will be chaired by Bill Egan’64, P’92,’95,’00,’02, and it will work with a consultant to identify candidates.

“Bill is extremely well qualified for this challenging role,” said John. “Not only is he a graduate of the school, but he also has four children who are graduates. Moreover, in the 20 years that he has served on the board, in addition to leading several committees, he led the school’s most recent strategic planning process.”

John pointed out that the search for a new headmaster is among the Board of Trustees most important responsibilities. “We have put in place a thoughtful and methodical process that we believe will result in finding the best individual to replace Graham and who will move Westminster ahead within the framework of its mission and core values,” he said.

Graham was appointed headmaster at Westminster following a 20-year tenure at The Lawrenceville School. While there, he served as a history teacher, dean of faculty and associate headmaster in the McPherson Chair, and as interim headmaster. He is a graduate of Mount Hermon School and attended Williams College. After a year in law school, he earned a master’s degree in history at Columbia University.

During his tenure at Westminster, he has presided over the renovation of Memorial Hall, Andrews House and Squibb House, and the construction of Edge House, the Kohn Squash Pavilion, the Sherwin Health and Athletic Center, a new track, new playing fields and more recently, a new academic center, slated to open in the fall. He also has helped the school’s fundraising efforts reach new heights. The annual fund has grown from approximately $500,000 per year to $2 million per year and the endowment has quadrupled. The school has also set recent records for the number of student applications it has received and the number of accepted students who have elected to attend Westminster.

“Westminster has never been stronger,” said John. “It has an excellent reputation, an outstanding faculty and curriculum, a 33-year history of balanced budgets, record numbers in admissions, a well-maintained physical plant, veteran and talented administrative staff, and a committed Board of Trustees. But heads of schools do retire and new ones come in, and we look forward to attracting a new head of school who will take us to a new level.”