With the retirement of Principal Tyler C. Tingley’48, ’64, ’01 (Hon.); P’99 a little more than a year away, the search for his successor is now in progress. On March 26, the membership of the Search Committee for the 14th principal of Phillips Exeter Academy was announced.

The Search Committee will obtain input from many members of the Exeter community, including faculty, students, staff and administration, as well as the broader community of alumni/ae, parents and friends of the Academy.

The Search Committee is composed of five trustees, four faculty members and one staff member. Committee members are:

Leigh A. Bonney ’76, trustee, chair, search committee
Kathleen J. Brownback, chair, religion department
John R. Ettinger ’69, trustee
Charles T. Harris III ’69, president of the Trustees
Christopher R. Matlack, instructor, science department
Eunice Johnson Panetta ’84, trustee
William K. Rawson ’71, trustee
Joseph A. Reiter, instructor, modern languages department
Tiffany D. Trotter, director of junior studies; instructor, history department
Roger F. Wakeman, director of facilities management

Leigh A. Bonney ’76, committee chair, is a trustee. She also serves as chair of the Budget & Finance Committee and is a member of the Executive and Buildings & Grounds Committees. Bonney is vice president for strategy for Pfizer Global Research & Development in New London, CT.

Chair of the Religion Department Kathleen J. Brownback came to the Academy in 1988. She has served as dean of students. She is also clerk of the trustees and is the parent of a current Exeter student.

John R. Ettinger ’69 is a trustee and a member of the Budget & Finance and Buildings & Grounds Committees, as well as the Committee on Trustees. He is the parent of a current Exeter student and is the managing partner and chairman of Davis Polk & Wardwell, a law firm in New York. 

Charles T. Harris III ’69 is president of the Trustees and chair of The Exeter Initiatives. He is co-founder and executive partner of SeaChange Capital Partners, a nonprofit financial firm that matches nonprofit organizations in need of growth capital with donations from individuals, foundations and others.

Christopher R. Matlack came to the Academy in 1984 as an instructor in the science department and teaches biology and ecology. He holds the Lee C. Bradley III Class of 1943 Teaching Chair in Science and has served as the chair of the science department. He is the parent of a current Exeter student.

Eunice Johnson Panetta ’84 is a trustee. She serves as chair of the Alumni/ae Affairs & Development Committee and is a member of the Budget & Finance and Investment Committees. She heads her own investment firm, Kaintuck Capital Management, in Boston.

William K. Rawson ’71 is a trustee. He serves as chair of the Education & Appointments Committee and is a member of the Alumni/ae Affairs & Development, Buildings & Grounds and Audit Committees. He is the parent of a current Exeter student and is a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm Latham & Watkins.

Joseph A. Reiter, the Lewis Perry Professor of the Humanities, came to the Academy in 1980 and has served as chair of the modern languages department, of which he is a member. All three of Reiter’s children graduated from the Academy.

Director of the Junior Studies Program Tiffany D. Trotter came to the Academy in 2003. She is a member of the history department.

Director of Facilities Management Roger F. Wakeman came to Exeter in 2002. He was previously associate director for design and construction at the Academy and is the parent of two current Exeter students.

In addition, the Search Committee is grateful that Mimi Jost, former executive assistant to Principal Ty Tingley, has come out of retirement to provide administrative support to the committee.

Over the course of the spring, members of the Search Committee and consultants from the search firm of Spencer Stuart will meet with members of the Academy community, including faculty, staff, administration, students, alumni/ae and parents to gather thoughts and ideas concerning the Academy’s next principal. A number of individual and group meetings are planned, including a meeting with the faculty as a whole. 

Those interested in contacting the Search Committee may do so by email  (principalsearch@exeter.edu). All responses and comments will be held in the strictest confidence. Information concerning the search will also be available at www.exeter.edu/principalsearch.