ABOUT


Jim Wickenden
Founder & President

THE WICKENDEN WAY

We Are Values-Driven
At Wickenden Associates, we are deeply committed to the long-term interests of the schools we serve and have a deep appreciation for their extraordinary variety and unique characteristics. We are committed to serving schools well while maintaining a flexibility and openness that allows us to respond to the specific needs and challenges of schools and their leaders.

For more than 30 years, we have been refining our inclusive search process with an eye toward transparency and respect for both clients and candidates. Our work is rooted in and guided by these core values, which translate into better services and outcomes for our clients.

We Are a Team of Experts
We believe that conducting an inclusive, high-quality, and well-organized search—for a range of clients and candidates—requires more than just being a former head of school. Not only do our consultants bring a wide range of experience and knowledge both inside and outside independent schools (including headship), but we also have team members who specialize in key search components—research, writing and editing, operations and logistics, and candidate interviewing and reference checking. We bring the strength of this entire bench to each and every search we conduct.

We Wrote the Book
Jim Wickenden launched this company in 1986 with the goal of making a contribution to the independent school world. Having grown up the son of a long-serving boarding school headmaster, Jim came by this interest naturally, and during his professional life, Jim continued to broaden his knowledge about governance and school leadership through visits to hundreds of schools.

A graduate of Princeton University, Jim holds Masters degrees from Rutgers and Harvard, and a Doctorate from Boston University. Before founding Wickenden Associates, Jim was the Dean of Admission at Princeton University, so it is safe to say that much of Jim’s career has been in the talent identification and recruitment business. Jim has not only helped schools find hundreds of leaders, but he has launched the careers of numerous school search consultants.

Jim’s leadership and integrity is evident in everything Wickenden Associates values, stands for, and delivers today. His impressive legacy, and the expansive network he built, will guide the firm’s work for decades to come.

WICKENDEN BY THE NUMBERS

34
YEARS EXPERIENCE
370+
SCHOOLS SERVED
600+
COMPLETED SEARCHES
150+
CONSULTING PROJECTS