In Spring Term of 2022, Jenny Elliot taught her last History 100B class.
Jennifer Karlen Elliott ’94, P ’22, ’24 ’26 was announced as Phillips Exeter Academy’s (Exeter) 17th principal, succeeding Bill Rawson. After graduating from Andover, Elliott went on to attend Dartmouth College before returning to Andover in 2010. Elliott served multiple roles at Andover, including being an Instructor in History and Social Science, and Assistant Head of School for Residential Life and Dean of Students, before leaving in 2022 to serve as Choate Rosemary Hall’s Head of Students and Academic Life. She will be taking on her role at Exeter effective July 1st.
Elliott discussed how her feelings toward Andover and Exeter evolved throughout the years, from her time as a student to when she was an administrator. During her time as Dean of Students at Andover, Elliott collaborated with Exeter on how to address issues including the COVID-19 pandemic, student conduct, and all-gender housing.
“When I [came back] as a faculty member at Andover, it felt like the rivalry had shifted a little bit. It felt more like we respected the rivalry. We really admired each other. In the Dean of Students office in Andover, I did a lot of partnerships with the Dean of Students at Exeter. In so many ways, my feelings about Exeter shifted from one of intense competitiveness to more of deeper respect,” said Elliott.
Elliott continued, “I will say, I need to add some red to my wardrobe, and saying EA instead of AE is going to take some time for me to really have that roll off the tongue. It’s not quite so instinctive for me. It’s been fun to read about the school’s histories and how much they’ve had in common from the very beginning. I see so many parallels between these two schools. I have a lot to learn about Exeter, so I need to figure out how to be a real student of the place, and make sure that I understand what makes Exeter so unique and distinct.”
Back during her time as an Andover student, Elliott played lacrosse, squash, and field hockey, and was a Blue Key Head, as well as a board member of the radio club. Elliott spoke about her experience subsequently returning to Andover as a faculty member, noting how certain aspects of campus remained familiar to her.
“It was strange coming back… Mr. Murphy was one of my favourite teachers, and I got to work with Mr. Murphy. I got to work with Mr. Gurry, I got to work with Ms. Dolan, I got to work with all these folks, and they would tease me that I needed to call them by their first name, which was a little bit of a transition,” said Elliott.
Elliott continued, “It felt like coming home. Morse smells exactly the same. And Borden smells exactly the same. And when I got back, the squash courts were the exact same as when I was a student, and they used to be in Borden. But I loved [coming back]”.
Paul Murphy, Instructor of Mathematics and Computer Science and former Dean of Students at Andover, previously taught Elliott in her Senior year. He recalled her sociable nature and elaborated on a couple of her core qualities.
“[She is] very collaborative, very fun. She always had students at her center. She has a personality such that she sees the good in everybody, which is a great quality for the Dean of Students, and also then for Choate. I was looking for someone who had that quality…She’s been in a couple of different places, and her experience will serve her well at Exeter,” said Murphy.
Reflecting on her experience attending Andover with Elliott, Heidi Wall ’94, Instructor in Mathematics and Computer Science, described Elliott’s personality and character traits.
“As a student, she was outgoing and friendly, and as an adult, she goes out of her way to connect with students and adults alike. She is warm, kind and empathetic. Having been a boarding school student and having worked in them for her whole professional life, she understands both the joys and challenges of residential schools… Exeter is incredibly lucky to have such a dedicated educator who is so committed to the well-being of students. I know she will lead the faculty with the same passion and drive that I have seen in her all these years,” wrote Wall in an email to The Phillipian.
Exeter’s Principal Search Committee was particularly attracted to these personal qualities of Elliott’s. Janney Wilson, Chair of the Search Committee, noted in an email to The Phillipian that the interactions they witnessed when they visited Elliott on campus at Choate exemplified these aspects of her character.
“Another search committee member and I were able to meet with Ms. Elliott at Choate this fall and walk the campus with her. It was really great to hear her explain the thought process behind some of the changes she has led, and it was also terrific to see how warm and energetic she was in her interactions with the students and adults we encountered,” wrote Wilson.
Andover’s 15th Head of School, John Palfrey, described Elliott’s many talents and abilities, noting that Elliott managed to juggle many differing aspects of her role on campus.
“She has unparalleled energy. She is someone that brings positivity and a can-do spirit in every room. She is incredibly hard-working. [At Andover] she was a classroom teacher, a coach, an advisor, [and] she had students in her dorm. She did every administrative job you could imagine, did them all incredibly well, and she did all those things at once.Part of it is just her incredible ability to engage in the life of the school in virtually every dimension… I am over the moon for her, her family, and Exeter. As an Exeter alum, and as her colleague at Andover, I can’t think of a better example of the non-sibi spirit,” said Palfrey.
Taylor Ware, Upper and Senior EBI Course Head and Associate Director of College Counseling, is Elliott’s college best friend from Dartmouth. Ware emphasized that Elliott cares deeply about making change as a leader and has always greatly impacted everyone around her in all facets of her life.
“She wants everything she’s a part of to be better for the people who it affects,” said Ware. “She’s been really involved in working on another graduate degree, getting her doctorate through Vanderbilt University. She’s doing all of that while she has this incredibly demanding position at Choate. While she’s doing all the other things, she’s also a mom to four incredible boys. And so she just continues to be all things to all people in this superhuman way. I have been in awe of her since I met her.”
Helios Hong ’25, a member of the last history class Elliott taught at Andover, described how Elliott focused on creating a positive space for her students. Drawing on his experiences, Hong shared how Elliott inspired him to forge stronger connections with his teachers.
“She had all of us write a letter to her basically explaining just how we’re doing as freshmen, what we expect out of the class, and introducing ourselves to her in general. And then a week later, she wrote us back a letter to each one of us…replying to what we said in the letter…That was what set the tone for the class, [which] is that she really cares about each one of us students and that she really wants to hold that relationship with us,” said Hong.
Hong continued, “Before I’ve always seen teachers as these very scary, distant figures, and from that experience, that was the first time I really got to share a more personal connection with a teacher.”
Madeleine Mayhew ’15 had Elliott as her squash coach, house counselor in Nathan Hale, advisor, and History 300 teacher. In an interview with the Phillipian, she shared a memory about Elliott on her graduation. She further expressed her belief that Elliott would be a great leader of the Exeter community.
“She handed me a card on my graduation that said ‘She believed she could, so she did’. She embodies that for me. Jenny has been working for this for a really long time, and the whole entire world believes she could and now she’s doing it. She deserves it more than anyone else… She is going to be the loudest cheerleader on the sidelines, she’s going to absolutely energize the school. How lucky is the Exeter community that they get to experience that,” said Mayhew.
Editor’s note: Madeleine Mayhew was a former News Editor for the Phillipian, vol. CXXXVII
