Wilson Smerconish ’16: Peter Anderson will join Episcopal’s faculty when he replaces Rachel Tilney as Director of Enrollment Management, known to many students as Admissions Director, this upcoming fall. Anderson, a Vermont native, graduated from Middleburry with a BA in American history and currently leads the admissions department at Lancaster Country Day School. He began working in admissions-related roles when he worked as the Director of Financial Aid at Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut.
Photo Courtesy of Peter Anderson
“I liked that work, but wanted to test the waters outside education,” said Anderson. In 1992 he received an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He began a career as an institutional derivatives broker in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland, providing liquidity for Interest Rate Swaps transactions with major money center banks in London and Brussels.
“I enjoyed that work a great deal,” explained Anderson. However, “After a number of very happy years there, my wife and I decided to come home to the US with our newborn. The only swaps brokerages in the US were in Manhattan and while I love New York, I elected to return to education and took work in the Admissions Office at St. George’s School in Newport, RI. That work allowed me to teach, to coach lacrosse and squash and to run a dorm.”
Shortly after his work at St. George’s, Anderson transitioned into his role in the admissions office at Lancaster Country Day School. During this time, Anderson attended several national conferences, where he came across Dr. TJ Locke, leading to his job at Episcopal.
According to Anderson, the primary tasks of an admissions director consist of “overseeing the admission process with prospective families [and] conscientiously striving to maximize the schools effectiveness at each stage of what admission professionals call the ‘admissions funnel’–the path families take from the ‘potential prospect stage’ through to matriculation.”
Anderson will replace Rachel Tilney, who has served as the Director since July of 2011. Tilney said she has really enjoyed her time here and the relationships she developed with with students and faculty.
In the past three years, Tilney has worked with her admissions team comprised of seven different members. Tilney added that she is “particularly appreciative of the experience and commitment I have seen on behalf of the admissions team. I will sorely miss them.” The admissions team includes Tom Kossuth, Zach Richards, Dona Pearcy, Walidah Justice, Ellen Young, Michele Mammele and, most recently, Amy Walling.
While Tilney has enjoyed her time here at Episcopal, she looks forward to moving on to other places as well. In the coming years, she hopes to explore other schools and non-profit organizations in the Philadelphia area.
As Tilney departs Episcopal, she is confident Anderson and his family will be “great additions to EA. Lancaster Country Day’s loss is EA’s gain!” The students and their families, and the entire school who have passed through the admissions process have witnessed Tilney’s contributions to the admissions department throughout her tenure at Episcopal.
Anderson will officially begin working on July 1st, and looks forward to working at Episcopal.
“Schools like Episcopal help their students find fulfillment and meaning in their lives and careers and the full scope of their capabilities,” commented Anderson. “In this day and age, schools that can do that are extraordinarily valuable. It will be an honor to represent a school that has done so well for so many generations.”