Bob Kirkpatrick
EXECUTIVE COACH, SEARCH CONSULTANT
The Education Group welcomes Bob Kirkpatrick. Bob is a seasoned leader in the independent school world and a welcome addition to our consulting team.
Over his 42-year career, Bob has served in a number of roles, most recently as head of school for St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, a coed boarding-day school in Austin, Texas. Prior to his nine years at St. Stephen’s, he was Head at Fox Chapel Country Day School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for seven years.
While leading these schools, Bob found time to serve in a number of volunteer roles. He was a member of the Pittsburgh Consortium of Independent Schools and served on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools, the Fox Chapel (PA) Area Land Trust and the vestry of Fox Chapel Episcopal Church. While in Austin, he was active within the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest and served on the executive committee of the Southwest Preparatory Conference. In 2013, he was elected to membership in the Heads Collegiate Forum, an honorary organization for independent school heads.
Prior to relocating to Texas, Bob spent 33 years living and working in Pittsburgh. For 26 of the 33, he served in many capacities at Shady Side Academy, a K-12, coeducational, day-boarding school of just under 1,000 students. Roles there included acting head of the lower school, director of admission (K-12), history department chair, teacher, coach and dorm parent. While working at Shady Side, Bob was also awarded a teaching fellowship in history at Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Bob now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, having moved there in June 2016 upon his retirement from St. Stephen’s. He currently serves as a trustee at the Rio Grande School, an ISAS-accredited independent elementary school in Santa Fe, and he is also President of the Board of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, also in Santa Fe. Bob received his BA in history from Kenyon College and an MAT from Colgate University.
For 22 years, Bob was a volunteer firefighter and officer with the Fox Chapel (PA) Volunteer Fire Department. His wife Sue was an independent school teacher and administrator for 40 years, and until 2019, she served as Director of Accreditation Services for the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools. In his free time, Bob enjoys cycling, fly fishing, golf, reading, travel and playing the bagpipes.
