Philadelphia Schools Superintendent Dr. William Hite Named First Superintendent in Residence and Executive Fellow at The Broad Center at Yale SOM
Hite will begin his role at The Broad Center at Yale SOM at the end of June, teaching and mentoring mid-career and senior education leaders.
Dr. William R. Hite, who will step down as superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia in June after nearly a decade at its helm, has been named the inaugural superintendent in residence and executive fellow at The Broad Center (TBC) at Yale SOM for 2022-2023. In this role, Hite will lead content facilitation for the Fellowship for Public Education Leadership program 2022-23 cohort, teach in and support the Master’s in Public Education Management degree program, and provide mentorship to members across the Broad alumni network, especially those interested in district leadership roles. Hite will assume his responsibilities as superintendent in residence and executive fellow at the end of June. Effective July 1, he will also begin a new role as chief executive officer of the national education nonprofit KnowledgeWorks.
Hite is a 2005 graduate of The Broad Academy, the predecessor program to the Fellowship for Public Education Leadership.
Hite’s tenure as superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia has been focused on equity and driven by the goal of ensuring that every neighborhood in the city has access to high-quality elementary and secondary schools. He steered the district through many challenges over his 10 years as superintendent, including bringing Philadelphia schools back under local control after financial insolvency and low academic performance had necessitated a state government takeover of the district in 2001.
In 2020, Hite issued an anti-racism declaration for the School District of Philadelphia, laying the foundation for the grassroots-based and community inclusive anti-racism initiative that followed, aimed at dismantling the structural racism endemic to the system.
Most recently, Hite led the district through the unique complexities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
During his career as an educator, Hite has held positions at every level; in addition to serving as superintendent, he has been a teacher, a principal, and a central office administrator. Prior to joining the School District of Philadelphia as superintendent in June 2012, he served in that role for Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland, where he was recognized nationally for bringing Advanced Placement courses to underserved students. He has also been an assistant superintendent in Georgia’s Cobb County School District and an administrator in Henrico County, Virginia.
“Bill exemplifies what TBC at Yale SOM is about: from his laser focus on equity and inclusion to his innovative approaches to effecting meaningful change in underserved communities, he has proven himself to be a paragon of transformational leadership,” said Hanseul Kang, assistant dean and Anita and Joshua Bekenstein ’80 Executive Director of The Broad Center at the Yale School of Management. “We are thrilled that he has agreed to share his expertise with the Broad community in this new capacity.”
“Bill Hite brings to The Broad Center a wealth of experiences and notable success in grappling with the problems facing school systems across the country, and a passion for helping students of all backgrounds to learn,” said Kerwin K. Charles, the Indra K. Nooyi Dean and Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Economics, Policy, and Management. “His impactful, inclusive, and imaginative approach is very much in keeping with the Yale School of Management’s mission to educate leaders for business and society. I can’t think of a better practitioner to guide and mentor The Broad Center community of current and future education leaders.”