Bill Christ
Bill is a Senior Consultant in CS&A’s Head of School and Catholic School Practices, who has also undertaken consulting projects on governance and leadership transition for our Consulting Group.
Since joining the firm in 2017, he has engaged in a robust array of leadership searches for schools in various parts of the country. His most recent head of school searches include Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School (MICDS) (MO), St. Ignatius College Prep (IL), High Meadows School (GA), The Swift School (GA), St. Paul Academy (MN), Holy Cross High School (NY), Villa Maria and Cathedral Prep Catholic School System (PA), and St. Joseph Academy (OH), among others.
Bill has a tendency to fall in love with the schools for which he consults. He is intrigued by their missions, culture, and history; savors his relationship with their people; and considers it an honor and a privilege to help them find the leadership that will enable them to fulfill their institutional aspirations.
Previous Experience
Bill came to CS&A after a distinguished 29-year tenure as Head of School and Teacher of English at Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Under Bill’s leadership, Hathaway Brown attained its status as one of the most admired and forward-leaning girl’s schools in the country. Known far and wide as an entrepreneurial and visionary educator, Bill was named one of the most outstanding school heads in the U.S. by the Klingenstein Center for Independent school Education at Columbia University.
A frequent presenter at national conferences, he has spoken at such venues as the NAIS Annual Conference, The International Coalition of Girls’ Schools Conference, and The Independent Schools of the Central States Annual Meeting on such themes as school transformation, curricular innovation, and leadership development. He has long been recognized for his ability to discover and mentor promising leaders (five former members of his senior administrative team have gone on to their own school headships), a trait that makes him an exceptionally qualified consultant, who knows how to assess, evaluate, and recruit sitting and aspiring school heads.
Education & Interests
Bill earned his B.A. in English, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, from Washington and Lee University, and his M.A. in English Literature from the University pf Pennsylvania.
In his free time, Bill very much enjoys serving on educational and non-profit boards. He is currently a trustee at Western Reserve Academy, a 200 year-old boarding school in Hudson, Ohio, and formerly served on the board of the Cleveland Museum of History and the Visiting Committee of Hiram (OH) College. As an endlessly hopeful fan, he can’t help himself from devotedly following the precarious fortunes of Cleveland’s pro sports teams. He also has a passion for rare and vintage books, and strives to frugally add to his decidedly modest collection. But most of all he and his wife treasure the time they spend with their children and grandchildren in Ohio and New York, and seek to maximize it as much as they possibly can.