USN announces next Director

A Letter from the Board President
Dear members of the Peabody Demonstration School and University School of Nashville community,

I am thrilled to announce that Rob Hereford has been appointed by the Board of Trustees as University School of Nashville’s 12th Director. Rob was unanimously recommended by the Director Search Committee to the Board of Trustees, who also unanimously approved his appointment to succeed Interim Director Juliet Douglas in July 2026.

In seeking USN’s next leader, we hoped to find a Director who embodies our mission, can strengthen USN’s national reputation for academic excellence and innovation, and will champion our extraordinary faculty, students, and families. Rob’s demonstrated leadership, coupled with his warmth, clarity, and deep commitment to collaboration, reflects our highest aspirations for this role. He brings a proven ability to nurture strong school communities, a steady hand in times of transition, and an inspiring vision for USN’s future—including advancing our already exceptional programs in athletics and the arts to stand alongside our academic distinction.

Rob comes to us with more than three decades of experience in independent schools, having served as teacher, coach, department chair, academic dean, division head, and head of school. Most recently, he has led Metairie Park Country Day School in New Orleans, a coeducational PK-12 school of 750 students. Prior to that, he served as Head of School at Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara, California, and earlier held leadership roles at Fort Worth Country Day School and Metairie Park Country Day. Rob began his career at Episcopal High School in Houston.

Throughout his career, Rob has been known as an approachable and steady leader. Students describe him as eager to listen and open to new ideas. Faculty and staff appreciate his collaborative spirit and his commitment to ensuring they have the resources and voice to succeed. He has successfully guided multimillion-dollar fundraising campaigns and has led important work in shaping and successfully executing strategic plans and accreditation processes. Twice stepping into schools following interim leadership, Rob has built a reputation for rebuilding trust and strengthening community.

A native of Selma, Alabama, and a proud Vanderbilt University alumnus, Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy from Vanderbilt, a master’s degree in history from the University of Georgia, and a master’s degree in Private School Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Rob and his wife, Amanda—an educator herself—are excited to move to Nashville. They are the proud parents of three sons: Scott, an adult son; John, a high school senior; and Jojo, a 10th grader.

I am deeply grateful to the Director Search Committee for its extraordinary work and to all members of the USN community who contributed to this inclusive and thoughtful process. Your engagement affirmed our love of the school and strengthened our shared vision for the future. I especially want to thank our Co-Chairs, Naima Walker Fierce and Erin Zagnoev, for their outstanding leadership, and the entire Director Search Committee for the countless hours, care, and dedication they invested in this process.

Please join us in warmly welcoming Rob, Amanda, and their family to University School of Nashville. We are energized by the promise of his leadership and look forward with excitement to the next chapter in USN’s history.

Dear PDS/USN community,

I am humbled, thrilled, and honored to have the opportunity to join University School as its 12th Director, beginning July 1, 2026. It is truly a dream that I’ll be moving back to Nashville with my family this summer to lead this incredible school. 

From my initial meeting with the Director Search Committee in August, I sensed the warmth and joy that pervades every interaction I have had with the USN community. The committee’s love for the school revealed itself immediately, and I quickly felt at ease sharing my stories and experiences as we got to know each other. I also could appreciate the variety of voices that USN valued in this process by the range of perspectives represented among that distinguished and diverse group. I found our dialogue energizing, engaging, and, I must say, fun. I left that meeting eager to get to know the school better and desperately hoping to get invited back as a finalist. 

During my finalist-stage trip to Nashville just over two weeks ago, when I finally got to set foot inside USN buildings for the first time, I met Juliet Douglas outside the Gordon Wing, greeting early arrivals to campus with quick laughter and a smile. Juliet began to show me around, and I could tell in our relatively short time together how fortunate USN is to have such a joyful, dedicated, and connected Interim Director. I learned so much about the history of USN in our visit, as Juliet told me how the table in the Director’s Office was where dedicated parents held the discussions that preserved the school in 1975, which led to the school’s transition from Peabody Demonstration School to University School of Nashville. Our conversation gave me an even deeper appreciation for the roots of USN’s identity, which continues to grow from “the original PDS principles of academic excellence, educational best practice, and inclusion.”

After my meeting with Juliet, as I had the opportunity to get to know faculty and staff, parents, trustees, and most importantly, students, my appreciation and love for the school developed rapidly. Each conversation revealed the joyful relationships at the heart of the USN community, relationships that keep students at the center, allowing them to take healthy risks because of the safety and support they feel. It’s such a comfortable place, a school that one staff member described as “like the den of the family home.” 

When I gathered research on USN during the interview process, a quote on the school’s website from the founding Director, Dr. Richard Thomas Alexander, grabbed my attention. He stated, “School life should be, through all its years, a happy, earnest living through which there may be happy, earnest learning." I wanted to see how authentic that quote still is today, over one hundred years after Dr. Alexander’s tenure. What I found was a school that radiated happiness throughout the community. USN revealed itself to me as a place that is highly connected and relational, with an expectation of academic excellence, in an atmosphere that sincerely values joy. There truly is “happy, earnest learning” happening in every corner of 2000 Edgehill. 

The joyful community, the commitment to academic excellence, the meaningful history, the bright future—these elements and many more make me beyond excited to embark on this journey to lead USN. Amanda, John, Jojo, and I look forward to visiting with you in the near future and to moving to Nashville next summer. 

Go Tigers!

Take care,

Rob Hereford

Finding the right permanent Director to lead USN into the future has been one of the most important responsibilities of the Board of Trustees. In late February, it announced the Director Search Committee, composed of dedicated and diverse individuals with strong ties to USN and expertise in education, governance, leadership, and community engagement. The committee followed a procurement process that included interviewing representatives from four firms and hired Carney, Sandoe & Associates, an internationally recognized education search and recruitment, consulting, and coaching firm, to ensure a thorough, inclusive, and well-structured national search.

In early April, three CS&A consultants visited USN to meet with students, faculty, staff, administrators, families, and trustees, and solicited feedback from the PDS/USN community through a community-wide survey, which yielded more than 600 responses. The information they gathered from the many perspectives regarding the Director position helped CS&A write a new position description and find candidates. The national search yielded some 175 applicants during summer months, and the committee interviewed 9 semifinalists in Nashville in August before bringing four finalists to visit the Edgehill and River Campuses in September. The PDS/USN community was invited to in-person sessions with each finalist and offered the opportunity to share their thoughts.

The Board expresses deep appreciation for the Director Search Committee, which thoroughly got to know these candidates, shared with them USN’s culture and commitment to educational excellence, and introduced them to Nashville before weighing community input and selecting the candidate whose skills and experiences best align with USN’s needs to help carry out our school’s strategic plan, mission, and guiding principles.

Head of School at Metairie Park Country Day School in Louisiana, 2021-2026

Head of School at Laguna Blanca School in California, 2014-2021 

Head of Upper School at Fort Worth Day School in Texas, 2006-2014 

Upper School Principal at Metairie Park Country Day School in Louisiana, 2003-2006 

Associate Academic Dean, History Department Chair & Teacher at Episcopal High School in Texas, 1992-2003 

M.A. in Private School Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University, 2002 

M.A. in History from the University of Georgia, 1992 

B.A. in History and Philosophy from Vanderbilt University, 1989