About the Head of School

Peter Becker began his tenure as Taft’s sixth Head of School on July 1, 2023.

As a Taft graduate, Becker knows, loves, and values Taft’s mission and culture: its insistence on excellence, passion for community and belonging, commitment to improvement and to service, and pride in school spirit. His career has always been about students. As a teacher, coach, advisor, dorm head, department chair, and head of school, he has worked with empathy and caring to help students feel valued so they can grow and succeed. As a head, he has shown a tremendous ability to administer and lead, inspiring others with a strategic vision and working collaboratively to improve and transform the school.

Becker’s educational career reflects a leader who has devoted his life to independent secondary education. He is a distinguished scholar, receiving a B.A. with Distinction in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia and an M.A. in History from Yale University. He was awarded a Fulbright Grant to study classical history, architecture, and archeology at the American Academy in Rome, Italy. After working briefly as an investment banking analyst for Harris Williams & Co., Becker first worked with independent school students while on the staff of FOCUS (the Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools). He began his boarding school career in 2003 at The Lawrenceville School, where he taught history and interdisciplinary studies, served as department chair, lived in and led Kennedy House, served on and ran multiple committees, and coached squash and tennis. At Lawrenceville, he worked across the school’s academic departments to lead the redesign of the Interdisciplinary Studies Department curriculum.

In 2012 Becker was appointed head of school at The Frederick Gunn School where he left a legacy of school innovation, improvement, and change. During his tenure, Becker worked with the board, faculty and staff, and the school’s leadership teams to translate the life and model of the school’s founder, Frederick Gunn, into core values and curriculum design pillars that leverage the inherent potential of boarding schools.

Becker committed The Frederick Gunn School to significant and sustained work in diversity, equity and inclusion, creating new programs, positions and practices, and led transformational fundraising initiatives. With his team, he oversaw more than $60 million in campus building and improvement projects; prioritized the hiring of a diverse and talented faculty; deepened and broadened the school’s curricular offerings; and fostered a global community marked by caring and empathy. During Becker’s tenure, Gunn created a new Center for Citizenship & Just Democracy; a soon-to-be launched Center for Entrepreneurship; and the school’s IDEAS Program in engineering, robotics, and computer science.

Becker is also a leader of national stature in the independent school educational landscape, attending and presenting at professional conferences, serving on the board of The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, and as a member of the Heads and Principals Association.