On October 2, 2026, the Hotchkiss community joined together to celebrate the formal introduction of Dr. Anne Bruder as the 16th head of school.
Dr. Bruder started her tenure on July 1, 2026, but the investiture was held as a formal ceremony honoring her as the new head of school. The event opened with a performance from the Hotchkiss Orchestra and a solo by flautist Isabella Deng ’27, as well as a speech by Assistant Head of School and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Erby Mitchell P ’21.
All-School Presidents Isis Fenner ’27 and George Ferrarone ’27 followed with a reading from “Immortal Autumn” by Archibald MacLeish ’11. The poem touched on the beauty of this season: “I praise the fall: it is the human season. / Now / No more the foreign sun does meddle at our earth.”
Board of Trustees President Tim Sullivan ’81, P ’13, ’16, spoke, discussing the meaning of Hotchkiss’ motto, “Guided by others, let us seek better paths.”
Finally, to introduce Dr. Bruder, Armistead Lemon, head of school at the North Cross School and a dear friend of Dr. Bruder, delivered comments on what makes Dr. Bruder such a remarkable person. “She is a strong leader. Anne’s authentic way of moving through the world will make her such an extraordinary and unforgettable head of school here at Hotchkiss,” said Ms. Lemon. She concluded that Dr. Bruder will “make Hotchkiss a beautiful home for all of you.”
The history of this ceremony is a little complicated, since not all of the information about the introduction of past heads of school is available. Dr. Bruder said that she worked with Ms. Rosemary Davis, the archivist and records manager, to find what past heads of school have done.
She was able to pull up fairly recent accounts of two prior investitures, one of which was of Skip Mattoon, the head of school from 1996-2005, who attended the ceremony on Friday. Before Mr. Mattoon, Head of School Robert Oden in 1989 also received a formal introduction to the school.
Although Dr. Bruder was able to read about the ceremonies, she said, “I am not certain what happened before that, and what it looked like. It hasn’t happened every time, but it has happened occasionally.”
Dr. Bruder made it a point to celebrate the beauty of Hotchkiss as a school. “I wanted to use this big moment where the whole school was here, on a beautiful day, to pause and take a moment to remember how truly extraordinary this school is,” she said.
Dr. Bruder was a faculty member at the school many years ago and said that often the beauty of this place can seem ordinary and mundane. Since leaving and coming back, she said she has come to admire the school at a deeper level and hoped that this event can help us stop and appreciate how special the school is.