Jim Berkman Accepts Head Position at Boston University Academy

Hawken`s current Head of School, James S. Berkman, has been named head of Boston University Academy (BUA), effective July 1. Last spring, Berkman announced that this would be his eighth and last year at Hawken. He stressed how much he enjoyed his time at Hawken, but explained that he was ready to look for something distinctly different. As head of BUA, he will manage a co-ed, 9-12 day school run by Boston University. Located on the BU campus in the Back Bay of Boston, high school students have the ability to cross-register for university courses. BUA was founded in 1993. Berkman possesses over 22 years of teaching and administrative experience within independent schools. A magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College, he also earned a master`s degree in Early Modern European History from Oxford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude. Berkman succeeds James Tracy, Ph.D., who announced in January that he would resign after serving six years at BUA. Tracy will assume the headmaster position at Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Mass. Douglas Sears, dean of BU`s School of Education, chaired a formal search committee to identify and recruit the Academy`s new headmaster. \"Jim Berkman brings to the Academy a wide-ranging intellect, a well-earned reputation for integrity, and an outgoing personality,\" said Sears. \"We believe that these qualities, combined with his substantial experience, will allow him to lead the Academy to even higher levels of achievement.\" Although BUA students` academic and extracurricular lives are centered at the Academy, they have full access to the resources of the university`s educational, recreational, and artistic programs. In their junior and senior years, BUA students take courses for college credit, and by graduation, may have taken up to 12 college courses. With as many as 48 college credits in hand, BUA students are eligible to transfer these credits to their college and may apply to continue as sophomores at Boston University and other nationally ranked universities. Berkman commented that he is excited about joining the BU Academy community. \"I have been impressed by my meetings with its students, faculty and staff, parents, and Board of Visitors, as well as by the thoughtful help of the Search Committee and Provost David Campbell in the search process. BU Academy has a reputation for intellectual excellence, and is a unique and wonderful high. I feel honored to be called to serve it, building on the legacy of Jim Tracy.\" \"James Berkman will be a superb head of BUA, and I look forward to working with him for many years to come,\" said Campbell.