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Dr. Anne Bruder was announced as Hotchkiss's next head of school during a meeting in Elfers Hall on Friday, Sept. 12. She will be the first woman to lead Hotchkiss when she starts on July 1, 2026. She succeeds Craig W. Bradley, who will retire in June 2026 after 10 years of devoted service to the School. Watch a recording and read more below.

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Dear Hotchkiss Community,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and as the chairman of the Head of School Search Committee, I am delighted to announce that the Board has voted unanimously to appoint Dr. Anne Bruder as Hotchkiss’s next head of school, effective July 1, 2026.

Anne comes to Hotchkiss from Deerfield Academy, where she is currently dean of academic affairs. During her time at Deerfield, she has led significant pedagogical and curricular work with a parallel focus on the needs of students and community adults. Colleagues describe her as an energizing, brilliant, and transformative leader who has a strong bias toward action while genuinely caring for all members of a school community. In her own words, she believes in “building educational communities founded on the intersecting values of challenge and joy.” 

Before joining Deerfield, Anne spent 11 years at Berea College in Kentucky, which is a tuition-free liberal arts college for low-income students. She served as a professor of literature and writing and chair of the English Department. As one of many examples of her innovative leadership, while at Berea she created a unique bridge program for incoming first-year students that continues today and has substantially and quantifiably improved student outcomes.  

When Anne formally arrives in Lakeville next summer, it will not be for the first time. Early in her career she spent two years at Hotchkiss. She taught English, coached Bearcats in lacrosse and soccer, and lived in Bissell (a dorm that is now fondly commemorated by Bissell Common). She credits her time at Hotchkiss as being genuinely formative in helping her design a career dedicated to creating extraordinary student experiences, shaping courageous teachers, and solving institutional challenges.  

Anne earned her B.A. in religion at Middlebury College and later attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she completed a master’s and Ph.D. in English, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Bryn Mawr College. She grew up in Traverse City, MI. She will be joined at Hotchkiss by her husband, Josh, a historian, writer, and fundraiser, and their 12-year-old son.

To say that Anne has my support in stepping into the role of Hotchkiss’s 16th head of school is an understatement. She will be the first woman to lead The Hotchkiss School, a landmark moment in our history. She was chosen unanimously not only by the Board but by the search committee, which included trustees, faculty, and staff.

When Craig Bradley ends his 10-year tenure at Hotchkiss next June, he will step away from a School that has never been stronger. Dr. Anne Bruder is unequivocally the right leader to build on this foundation and drive the School forward into its next chapter. There are great things ahead! 

Please read a message from Anne below; you'll find her bio here. 

Sincerely,

Tim Sullivan ’81, P’13,’16

President of the Board of Trustees

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Dear Hotchkiss Community, 

This morning, I had the distinct honor of standing onstage in Katherine M. Elfers Hall as Tim Sullivan ’81, P’13,’16 announced my appointment as Hotchkiss’s next head of school. The energy and warmth I felt from students, faculty, and staff was unlike anything I have ever experienced. This community is extraordinary.      

As Tim noted, this will not be my first time at Hotchkiss. I spent two formative years in Lakeville as a young teacher. I arrived on a dusty summer day with a couple of duffle bags, a big box of books, and my trusty hound, Arlo. I had come to Hotchkiss to teach English, but in so many ways, Hotchkiss schooled me: when to listen and when to lead, how to build an educational culture elevated by curiosity while grounded in diligence, and why living in a community that collectively teaches the whole student is so deeply rewarding. Those lessons have stayed with me. 

My professional journey has taken me from the rolling hills of North Carolina to the Kentucky bluegrass to the gleaming suburbs of Boston and Philadelphia, from boarding schools to colleges and universities and back to boarding schools again. When I begin my work next July as Hotchkiss’s 16th head, I will do so with profound respect for your School, a School that will soon become mine as well. It will be the honor of a lifetime to return to Lakeville as Hotchkiss's next leader.

At the heart of my work is a vision of a school as a place of growth and transformation where young people prepare not merely for college or career but for lives of deep meaning. That kind of school revolves around a rigorous academic and co-curricular program that cultivates lifelong habits of curiosity, judgment, resilience, and joy. It thrives when the community commits to this shared purpose while also celebrating the range of ideas and practices that make schools vibrant learning laboratories. Hotchkiss is just such a place. 

Tim noted that I will be Hotchkiss’s first female head of school, but I won’t be Hotchkiss’s first woman leader. That honor belongs to Maria Bissell Hotchkiss. Her founding act of generosity, her belief in the power of a secondary education to change a young person’s life for the better, and her choice to situate the School in a place of natural beauty and wonder: those decisions are our shared heritage and our touchstones. 

But Hotchkiss reinvents itself each year. All great schools do. The School endures but it never stands still. That’s because learning is a great adventure and education a process of continuing self-discovery. 

I will call on the expertise of many across this community during the coming year of transition and in the years ahead. I have so many people to meet on campus and around the world; I have so much to learn from you. I can hardly wait to get those discussions started. 

I am deeply grateful to Tim Sullivan and the search committee for choosing me to lead Hotchkiss beginning next summer. My gratitude extends to the members of the Board for placing their faith in me. Most of all, I thank Head of School Craig Bradley, whose steady hand over the past decade has guided the School through challenging moments as well as triumphant ones. Under Craig’s leadership, Hotchkiss has grown stronger, more caring, more generous, and more optimistic. In the months ahead, Craig and I will partner to ensure a seamless leadership transition.

I am honored by the trust of this community, and I am indebted to each of you. Students, faculty, staff, trustees, parents, alumni, and friends of the School: your energy, your ideas, and your wisdom have made Hotchkiss a great leader in American boarding schools and in secondary education. I am thrilled by all that we will accomplish in the years ahead. 

Guided by each other, let us seek better paths. 

Sincerely,

Anne Bruder, Ph.D.