Whether facilitating all-school meetings or recreationally birdwatching around campus, Dr. Sheila Culbert is a beloved member of the Loomis Chaffee community. Since 2008, she has served as LC’s first female Head of School, leading with an emphasis on student education and development.
On January 20, 2022, Dr. Culbert announced that she will retire at the end of the next academic year in June 2023. Her retirement has been planned to coincide with her husband Richard Wright’s retirement from his position as a professor of public affairs at Dartmouth College. Upon retirement, she wishes to spend more time with her husband to pursue their shared hobbies such as reading, writing, traveling, and birding.
Reflecting back on her time at Loomis Chaffee, Dr. Culbert recalls what initially drew her to the school.
“It was the story of the [Loomis] founders and their dedication to [educational] access for children regardless of their [financial and religious] backgrounds,” said Dr. Culbert.
Inspired by that same vision of the school’s founders, Dr. Culbert styled LC to provide an “incredible education that is accessible to a wide range of people.” Under her administration, the school broke records in application numbers and increased its boarding student percentage to 70 percent, further internationalizing the student body population. The Scanlan Student Center and two new dormitories were constructed on campus, and the John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Center for Theater and Dance is undergoing construction.
The incorporation of the Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies, the Norton Center for the Common Good, and the Pearse Hub for Innovation into the LC Community were also under the headship of Dr. Culbert.
Upon retirement, Dr. Culbert will have completed fifteen years in the position of Head of School.
“I will definitely miss the students and the people,” she said. “This is a very warm community, one which has certainly been there for me over the many years that I have been here. Students keep people young and engaged, and there’s so much intellectual life at the school that I think is so vibrant and interesting.”
With the announcement of Dr. Culbert’s retirement, a search committee chaired by Bruce D. Alexander ’61 was formed.
“[This committee hopes to follow] a process that involves input from all school constituencies and balances transparency with the confidentiality required to attract the best candidates,” said Chairman of the Board Mr. Duncan Maclean ’90.
The panel convened for the first time on January 28, and they are currently working to find search firms who will assist in hiring Dr. Culbert’s successor. Later, they will begin interviewing potential candidates who will help the Loomis community continue in its “evolution, innovation, and excellence” according to Dr. Culbert.
A board member herself, Dr. Culbert has confidence in the search committee to find her successor, and said she hopes her successor will uphold Loomis Chaffee’s mission to bring “joy, enthusiasm, curiosity, imagination, and diversity in perspectives” to the Island.
In an effort to provide updates for the Loomis community in the search for Dr. Culbert’s successor, a web page has been formed on the LC website, which presents all committee members and official communication concerning Dr. Culbert’s retirement.