Dean and Director

The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (“Lab” or the “Schools”) seeks a strategic, mission-aligned, and engaged leader to serve as the next Dean and Director (Dean/Director). Founded in 1896 by John Dewey as the nation’s first laboratory school, Lab is home to the youngest members of the University’s academic community and offers a dynamic learning environment that cultivates in its students an enduring spirit of scholarship, curiosity, creativity, and confidence. Lab values learning experientially, exhibiting kindness, and honoring diversity. An integral academic unit of the University of Chicago, the Schools benefit from exceptional proximity to world-renowned scholarly resources, rich collaborative opportunities, and a culture of intellectual vitality. Through clear, strategic leadership, sustained engagement with a broad community of stakeholders, and an abiding commitment to the shared values of the Laboratory Schools and the University of Chicago, the Dean/Director will advance one of the University’s most unique institutions, building upon its remarkable foundation while ensuring its enduring strength and broad influence for future generations of students, families, and educators.

Today, Lab educates 2,200 students from age 3 through grade 12 and draws families from Chicago, the nearby suburbs, and the broader region. Lab students learn within a community distinguished by exceptional teaching, an interdisciplinary and experiential curriculum, a deeply collaborative culture, and a longstanding tradition of academic excellence. For over a century, the Laboratory Schools have fostered a legacy of—and ongoing commitment to—a lifelong love of learning. Lab’s uniquely embedded position within the University of Chicago affords community members extraordinary opportunities for intellectual rigor, open debate, and the ability to develop and express diverse views as part of and in connection with the University community.

The University seeks in its next Dean/Director a seasoned educational leader skilled in guiding complex, high-performing educational organizations and animated by a deep commitment to its enduring values. With sound judgment and exceptional relational capacity, the next Dean/Director will cultivate trust and connection across Lab and the wider University community. Leading with clarity and integrity, this individual will embody visible student‑centered leadership while stewarding this historic institution into its next chapter—honoring Lab’s progressive education roots while advancing organizational strength and a vibrant partnership with the University of Chicago.

The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools have retained Isaacson, Miller, an executive search firm, to assist with this recruitment. Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the completion of the search process. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and CVs with cover letters should be sent below.  

Katie Rockman and Jaime Morgen are leading this search with Mia Carpiniello and Christina Errico.

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information, please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.