Randal E. Brown - Biosketch

At the start of the 2010-11 school year, Randal Brown becomes the ninth Head of School at All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler, Texas. Prior to his upcoming tenure at All Saints, Randal accumulated a wealth of independent school experience at schools in the southeast as well as formal leadership training in the US Army. This foundation has culminated in equipping Randal with excellent academic, financial management, and development experience, as well as leadership expertise and superb communication skills.

Randal earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and International Studies from Rhodes College and a Masters of Education degree (with an emphasis in Institutional Advancement) from Vanderbilt University. His educational background also includes the British Studies at Oxford. Randal’s academic achievements include being named teacher of the year at The Webb School in June 1994.

Most recently, Randal spent four years at Christchurch School, a boarding and day school in the Tidewater region of Virginia. Hired as Dean of Students in 2006, he directed the complete restructuring of the boarding program into a hall system common in many New England boarding schools. In addition, he overhauled the school’s student prefect program and Honor Council bringing student leadership rather than faculty to the fore. During his tenure as Director of Development, capital giving grew from $5.6 to $8.1M. Restricted and unrestricted annual giving totaled $544,000, a 5% increase over previous efforts in a challenging fundraising climate.

From 1998-2006 Randal served as Director of Scheduling and as a history instructor at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans. Randal’s teaching experience at Newman included a nontraditional class, Op Center, a week long US foreign policy simulation, which was featured on an Assignment Education segment for the New Orleans NBC TV affiliate. While at Newman, Randal was a regular presenter at the New Orleans Independent School Exchange and a regular participant at NAIS conferences.

Other independent school experience includes employment with Darlington School in Rome, Georgia, and the aforementioned Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. Combined duties at these schools included working in development, teaching World History, supervising boys’ dormitories, and coaching outdoor activities.

In addition to his independent school career, Randal Brown is a major in the US Army Reserve where he serves in traditional part-time status. He is a 2005 veteran of the Iraq Campaign, where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for distinguished service as a commanding officer. In 2010, he completed the Army’s demanding Command & General Staff College. His formal training and service is in Armored Cavalry and Field Artillery units in the National Guard and Reserves.

In terms of Randal’s personal life, he is married to Kristen Pryor Brown (a graduate of Fort Worth Country Day School in Fort Worth, Texas). Kristen and Randal have three children joining the All Saints community. Randal’s passions are family and education. His interests include foreign affairs, ancient history, cleverly plotted fiction, and expert marksmanship. Randal believes that the purpose of the independent school is to develop students morally, academically, and physically in the most positive sense; he feels we must build strong institutions to this end. Randal posits “A head of school must develop a shared vision with the school’s faculty, staff, and trustees; and then work tirelessly to see that it permeates all aspects of the organization.”

In closing, below are a few quotes from independently procured references which will attest to Randal’s character.

“Randal is extremely successful in working with the faculty. As Dean of Students he built a very successful team of highly qualified individuals; the faculty looked up to him very quickly and sought advice from him.” ~Head of School

“He talks the vision with parents. He is able to do the difficult work of making hard decisions, but he treats every family the same. He gathers all information before making a decision, then once it is made, he doesn't waiver.” ~Academic Dean

“…unshakable integrity” ~US Army Colonel