The board of trustees of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School recently announced that it has voted unanimously to elect Dr. George Penick as head of school beginning in the 2008-09 school year.

Dr. Penick will replace Bob Rutledge, who has been serving as the interim head of school for the 2007-08 academic year.

Rutledge will remain at St. Andrew’s next year and serve as senior advisor to the head of school during the transition period.

“George Penick is uniquely qualified to lead St. Andrew’s as our next head of school,” says Bill Ray, chairman of the St. Andrew’s Board of Trustees. “He is a man who loves education and learning, who is committed to diversity and inclusion, who has built an impeccable reputation on honor and integrity, and who is committed to the Episcopal tradition, which is the foundation of our school. His leadership will ensure St. Andrew’s continues to be recognized as one of the leading independent schools, not just in Mississippi, but throughout the Southeast.”

A graduate of Davidson College, Dr. Penick received both a master’s and a doctorate in educational administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, focusing primarily on educational management, child development, and public policy. After beginning his career in education, he entered the foundation world and worked for the next 26 years in philanthropy.

In 2006, Dr. Penick was named the first director of the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute which was formed by RAND to address the public policy issues caused by the extensive damage in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana from Hurricane Katrina.

“A true love of learning is nurtured more from critical thinking than from consuming information,” Dr. Penick writes in a statement of his philosophy of education.

“All children can learn n and therefore, when a child does not succeed, the question should be ‘How did we not effectively serve this child?’.... My educational philosophy favors...an acceptance of responsibility for each student’s success by the teachers and staff rather than a willingness to blame the family and the child if success is not realized.”

Dr. Penick and his family have been a part of the St. Andrew’s community for more than 17 years. He and his wife Carol have two children, Holladay and Robert, who are both graduates of St. Andrew’s.

They have led the Annual Fund campaign, and Carol was president of the parents’ association, served on the corporation board for many years, and worked in the school’s admissions office. The Penicks are communicants of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, where Dr. Penick serves on the vestry.

“St. Andrew’s Episcopal School has been an important part of the life of my family for almost two decades, and I am honored to have this chance to help to lead the school into the future,” says Dr. Penick.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to build on the successes of the past and to make this an even stronger resource for Jackson and all of Mississippi in the future.”