In 2016, Joe Williams began his tenure as Head of School. Joe was raised as a faculty child at Lawrence Academy, where he also went to school. He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine where he played basketball and met his wife Eileen. Joe worked for several years at boarding schools following his undergraduate program. For seven years, he briefly shifted his focus to the business world, working for Reebok International, before he and Eileen decided to return to boarding schools to live, work, and raise their family.
During a nineteen-year tenure at Kimball Union Academy, Joe Williams served in several capacities including Assistant Head of School for External Affairs, where he oversaw the coordination between admissions, advancement, and communications. He also introduced grade-specific leadership programs and developed a residential life and social curriculum with an emphasis on educating the whole child. Joe also spent several years as the Director of Admission at KUA, where he focused on strategic outreach to maximize yield and match while working with then-current parents and alumni to advance recruiting efforts. During his tenure at Kimball Union Academy, Joe received an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from the University of Vermont.