Tilton selects new head of school

TILTON — David Thiel will become the new head of the Tilton School, the school trustees announced Friday.

On July 1, he will succeed Peter Saliba and become the 27th person to hold the post at the school, which is approaching its 175th anniversary.

Dave McElhinny, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said Thiel has broad experience at a boarding school as well as having founded and operated several companies, gaining experience in marketing communications, business operations and creative problem solving.

He is currently the assistant head of school for strategy and planning at Deerfield Academy, where he teaches design, staffs the academy’s innovation lab and advises students and clubs.

“David understands the unique power of boarding schools to facilitate student growth 24/7 — an understanding that originated in his time as a student at Deerfield Academy, and which has been reinforced during his tenure on the faculty,” McElhinny said.

“As a student, he played multiple sports at the varsity level, and led Deerfield’s choral groups, radio station, literary magazine, and student activities committee.”

Thiel graduated from Deerfield in 1991.

“My journey in life and career was launched by the formative power of a boarding school that provided a traditional course of study, but taught me to align my aspirations to a greater sense of responsibility, purpose and meaning,” Thiel said.

“I think Tilton is pioneering a new model—preserving the precious and defining hallmarks of the boarding school experience, but delivering an innovative curriculum that anticipates and prepares students for a world marked by diversity and change.”

Thiel double-majored in English and biology at the University of Rochester. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from that school in 2007.

David earned his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Rochester in 2007.