Lawrenceville School Names Jason Robinson As New Head Of School

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ - Jason Robinson has been named Head of School at The Lawrenceville School, following a unanimous recommendation from the school's Board of Trustees and Head of School Search Committee, the school announced.

Robinson’s appointment is effective July 1, 2027.

He will succeed Steve Murray, who announced in February that he will conclude his 12-year tenure at the end of the 2026-27 academic year.

The Head of School Search Committee, co-chaired by Benji Griswold and Alex Buckley Voris, led a six-month process in consultation with global leadership and advisory firm Spencer Stuart. The process included campus conversations, a community survey and engagement across the Lawrenceville community.

"What stood out most to the Search Committee was Jason's rare combination of intellectual seriousness, personal warmth, operational discipline, and genuine love for Lawrenceville," said Celeste Mellet, president of the Board of Trustees and a member of the Search Committee. "He understands both the promise and the complexity of this school, and he brings the judgment, humility, and ambition required to build on Lawrenceville's strengths while helping us meet the demands of the future."

Robinson currently serves as head of school at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., a position he has held since 2018. During his tenure there, he led a strategic planning process that advanced the school's investment in civics education, teaching and learning, interdisciplinary studies, athletics, financial sustainability and campus improvements, including a renovation of the school's historic chapel. The school's endowment has nearly doubled under his leadership, and annual giving reached its highest level in school history, according to Lawrenceville.

Robinson is not new to Lawrenceville. From 2007 to 2013, he was a faculty member in the history department, chair of the interdisciplinary studies program, chair of the Capstone program, and a coach for basketball, baseball and golf. He also served as head of Stephens House, a girls' dormitory, where he lived with his wife, Olinda, and their two daughters, Francie and Abigail, both Lawrenceville alumnae. Olinda Robinson worked at Lawrenceville for more than a decade in the Alumni and Development Office and later the Dean of Faculty Office.

"My years living in Stephens House and gathering with students around a Harkness table profoundly shaped my sense of what teaching, learning, and community are fundamentally about, giving me a lifelong appreciation for the transformative impact of a Lawrenceville education," Robinson said. "The opportunity to return to a place that was so important to my formation is a great privilege. I look forward to the exciting work of partnering with the full Lawrenceville community to write the next chapter of this extraordinary school, to do even more for the wonderful students we are blessed to teach, and to think aspirationally about the great educational questions of our time."

After leaving Lawrenceville in 2013, Robinson spent five years at Princeton Day School, first as head of Upper School and then as assistant head of school for academics, where he oversaw academic and curricular programs from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, coordinated faculty recruitment and led a redesign of the academic schedule. He also held faculty and coaching roles at Landon School in Maryland.

Robinson, who was raised in Virginia, holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Washington and Lee University, a master's degree in government from the University of Virginia, and a law degree from Stanford Law School. He held a judicial clerkship with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Baltimore and practiced corporate law in Washington, D.C., at Covington and Burling before entering education.

"As we move forward, our mission — to inspire the best in each to seek the best for all — remains our guide," Mellet said. "Lawrenceville is strong because of the people who believe in it, invest in it, and hold it to the highest standard. With Jason's leadership, Steve's continued stewardship through this transition year, and the commitment of this extraordinary community, I am confident that Lawrenceville will continue to reach new levels of excellence and purpose."

Founded in 1810, The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville is a co-educational boarding and day school for grades 9-12.

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