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An Ambitious Learner
A voracious reader with a deep interest in environmental preservation as well as Roman history and the American Revolutionary War, as a young student Glendinning found comfort in the routine and structure of studying. He also felt a great deal of self-satisfaction from climbing each academic rung.
“I can assure all current Hopkins J School students that I was once a gangly awkward 13-year-old with acne and all the other social anxieties that go along with that age,” said Glendinning through a smile.
His work paid off as he was accepted into Dartmouth College for his undergraduate studies.
An Explorer
At Dartmouth, Glendinning studied Classic Archeology, a passion that would take him around the world. His first trip was to Greece in the Spring of his sophomore year, where his love of history and his penchant for exploring the unknown intertwined perfectly. In the years that followed, working on excavations in Greece, Spain, and Turkey, as well as helping to run a summer program at Cambridge University in the UK, gave Glendinning a unique perspective on the magnitude of the world as well as its deep histories and mysteries. Although he no longer pursues archaeology in the intense way he did during and after school, since 2015 he has served as a Trustee of the American College of Greece which takes him back there at least once a year to be among the people and places that inspired him years before.
An Educator
A surprising opportunity arose during Glendinning’s senior year of college that allowed him to teach a section of Latin to tenth graders.
“I loved teaching from the first moment. I was petrified of course, but by the end of the semester, I was all in.” This experience led to Glendinning’s first job after college, teaching Latin at Andover, and to his pursuit of a Ph.D in Classical Archaeology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
After seven years of graduate studies, Glendinning taught Ancient and Medieval History and Archaeology for eight years at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia.
A Leader
While focused on his classroom teaching – including a strong emphasis on experiential lessons such as creating a full-scale archaeological excavation for his students – Glendinning became fascinated by the systems and structures that support great teaching. This interest propelled him to complete a master’s degree in Educational Administration and to take on the principalship of the high school at Moorestown Friends School in New Jersey in 2004 and the headship at Moses Brown in 2009.
A lifelong learner, Glendinning made ongoing professional development and published writing cornerstones of his tenure at Moses Brown, elements he says he will carry forward at Hopkins. Much has been made of his viral YouTube video filmed to announce a snow day at Moses Brown which has amassed over four-million views since debuting in 2015, but Glendinning is also a well-known voice in the independent school world and is widely viewed as a national thought leader in the sector.
To learn more about Hopkins School please visit our website and register to join us at our Open House on Saturday, October 22 (virtual) and Sunday, October 23 (campus tours).
