King's Academy, February 3, 2010—Chairman of the Board of Trustees of King's Academy Dr. Safwan Masri today announced the appointment of John P. N. Austin, Ph.D. as the school's next headmaster.
Dr. Austin will join King's in July 2010 and succeeds Founding Headmaster Dr. Eric Widmer, who will be retiring after the graduation of King's Academy's first class, the Class of 2010.
Dr. Austin's appointment came as the result of an exhaustive international search that took into consideration critical input from the King's Academy community. The King's Academy Headmaster Search Committee was chaired by Dr. Masri and included faculty, staff and board members. The process was assisted by the executive search firm Howe-Lewis International.
Dr. Austin is currently the Academic Dean at St. Andrew's School, a leading U.S., private, coeducational boarding high school located in Middletown, Delaware. He brings to King's over two decades of experience as an educator and administrator. He joined the St. Andrew's faculty in 1987, serving as a teacher, coach, dorm parent and class advisor. Since that time, he has served in a broad range of leadership positions, including chair of the English Department, Associate Academic Dean for the Humanities and Dean of Students. He has taught a range of courses in both the History and English Departments.
Dr. Austin attended Exeter College of Oxford University and graduated from Williams College in 1987 with a Bachelor's degree in English. He holds Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy and Doctoral degrees in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University where he taught courses in rhetoric and American literature, in addition to a Master's degree from the Bread Loaf School of English of Middlebury College.
Dr. Austin, his wife Monica Matouk and their three children have traveled widely throughout the Middle East-Ms. Matouk grew up in Beirut and Cairo, where her family still lives--and are excited to be returning to the region.
Speaking on behalf of the King's Academy Board of Trustees, Dr. Masri also thanked Dr. Widmer for "helping to fulfill His Majesty King Abdullah II's vision of a boarding school committed to the values of academic excellence, educational opportunity and service to others."
"Thanks to Dr. Widmer, King's has already established a reputation for excellence and distinguished itself," Dr. Masri said. "In just a few short years, King's Academy has acquired a standing and reputation that might have taken decades to achieve without his leadership."