"John G. Palfrey, Jr., the Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law and Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School, has been named the 15th Head of School of Phillips Academy, Andover," the school has announced yesterday. Cribbing now a little more from the press release:
Palfrey’s academic background, management experience and scholarly pursuits, combined with his personal disposition, character and core values stood out during the eight-month search process, said Currie. He described the 39-year-old teacher, author and scholar as an “engaging leader and visionary educator” with an insatiable appetite for understanding how today’s students — from grade school to graduate school — learn, lead and serve in an increasingly complex and interconnected world.
“The trustees were captivated by John’s intelligence, warmth, passion and outstanding record of accomplishment,” said Currie. “As we got to know him over the last several months, it became clear that he has the essential qualities and characteristics to lead this Academy well. Among them, John is instinctively collegial and has a collaborative leadership style. He has immense intellectual curiosity, works to make himself extremely well-informed, and acts with great care.”
Palfrey's books include the forthcoming Intellectual Property Strategy (MIT Press, 2012), Access Controlled (edited with Ronald Deibert and others, MIT Press, 2010), and Born Digital (with Urs Gasser, Basic Books, 2008). This is obviously incredibly exciting news for Phillips Academy. (And I just realized this is also a cause for much concern in Chapel Hill, for I fear our fantastic librarian will be on the the short list to replace him.)
The Boston Globe's coverage of Palfrey's appointment is here. This is a really interesting move for Phillips Academy — completely understandable from their perspective, because they've hired a fabulous academic and administrator — and also for Professor Palfrey. Law faculty certainly go off to head universities and foundations with non-zero frequency. I can understand the attraction of leaving a law school to run a distinguished school, where the life of the mind is so important and where there is such a sense of common mission as I imagine is true of Phillips Academy. This makes me wonder if Palfrey will start a trend here, as he has in so many other ways?
I have a scholarly interest in another, earlier John G. Palfrey — the nineteenth-century Unitarian minister. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago I blogged about a book once owned by Reverend Palfrey.