Gilman headmaster resigns

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426 days ago: Gilman School's headmaster ousted

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - The headmaster of Gilman School has resigned following the discovery of “misrepresentations” on his resume, the school announced Friday.

According to a statement from Gilman’s board of trustees, Jon McGill was asked to step down as head of the school after the discovery that he had not been part of an intercollegiate hockey team, as McGill had indicated to the school when he was hired.

“When this was brought to his attention, he readily acknowledged his mistakes, and in keeping with his loyalty to the school and its mission, tendered his resignation,” board President Charles Fenwick Jr. said in a statement.

Fenwick said the board came across the inconsistency during an annual evaluation of the headmaster, who has led the northern Baltimore all-boys prep school since 2001. About 1,000 students attend the K-12 school.

In a separate statement accompanying the school’s announcement, McGill acknowledged the fabrication but expressed “shock” at being asked to resign.

“I know, however, that the responsibility for establishing the vision of the school rests with the board, and when the head and the board are not sharing the same vision, it is time to step aside,” McGill wrote.

It was not clear whether this statement was in reference to the falsified information on McGill’s resume or separate disagreements with the board.

“Although I removed that reference from my resume in September 2004, I have no one to blame but myself for putting it there in the first place more than 30 years ago,” he added. “I’m sorry for the mistake.”

A Canadian native, McGill was well-known to the school as an ice hockey enthusiast, often appearing before students in a Gilman jersey.

He earned three degrees from the University of Waterloo in Ontario in the early 1970s. It is not clear whether that was the university where McGill claimed to have played hockey.

In his statement, Fenwick praised McGill’s accomplishments at Gilman, including improvements to fundraising, financial aid and the school’s faculty. He declined to elaborate in an interview on the specifics of the resignation.

Assistant Headmaster John Schmick, a longtime faculty member and Gilman alumnus, will serve as the school’s acting head until a replacement is chosen, Fenwick said. The school will convene a search committee for a permanent successor during the summer.

McGill, the 12th headmaster in the school’s 110-year history, was preceded by Archibald Montgomery IV, who left after nine years in the post.

In his statement, McGill alluded to the “weight of expectations” imposed on him by the legacy of the previous headmasters.

McGill landed record $10 million donation

Jon McGill, an experienced educator who served as associate head of New York’s Poly Prep Country Day School before coming to Baltimore, had been in the midst of spearheading Gilman School’s record-setting $50 million capital campaign at the time of his resignation. Much of that fundraising effort is going toward the ongoing construction of a new academic center and an overhaul of the school’s main building.

In early 2003, McGill drew praise after gaining a $10 million donation — the largest in the school’s history — from William Polk Carey, an investor and the grandson of the school’s founder. – John Davisson

jdavisson@baltimoreexaminer.com

Do you think Jon McGill show have been asked to step down because of the lie on his resume, or did Gilman's board of trustrees overreact? Respond below in our comment section.

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426 days ago: Gilman School's headmaster ousted