William Matsuzaki
Every month, RG175 spotlights one of the independent school leaders we've placed, taking a deeper dive into their journey, insights, and impact. This month, we feature William Matsuzaki. William will serve as the Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs at Columbus Academy in Columbus, Ohio, beginning July 2026. He grew up in Los Angeles and studied Japanese at Carleton College in Minnesota. He was drawn into education in college when he did a summer teaching internship in Manchester, NH at the Breakthrough program and first learned about independent schools being at the Derryfield School.
After graduating from college, William started teaching middle school Japanese at St. Paul’s School for Boys in Maryland, where he was able to also coach tennis and cross country, be a department chair, lead exchange programs, and be a Dean of Faculty. During his 16 years at St. Paul’s, he was lucky to have numerous mentors and colleagues who supported him to become an administrator. He was also able to get his masters in technology education and a doctorate in educational leadership at Johns Hopkins University while at St. Paul’s. He stayed in Maryland and was hired as Middle School Division Head at Harford Day School, where he was able to continue to teach Japanese and coach cross country. Currently, he is at All Saints’ Episcopal School in Fort Worth, where he started as the Dean of Curriculum for EC-12th grade and the Director of the Tad Bird Honors College. In 2022, he was asked to be their Upper School Head. In July, he will join the Columbus Academy community in Ohio as the Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs.
What is your connection to RG175?
For the last two searches, I have gone through RG175 and most recently for the Columbus Academy position, it went through RG175. On a side note, I applied to a middle school head position at Old Trail in Ohio, where John Farber was the Head of School over a decade ago. Although I was not offered the job, I had a great visit, was very impressed by the school and John. We have emailed each other during the years and talked about the conferences whenever he was at the RG175 table. As soon as I applied to the position, he emailed me back that he wanted to get in touch with me to connect me to a position that he thought would be a good match for me. Stepping foot on the Columbus Academy campus during my interview, I knew right away that this is a place that I can see myself and knew exactly what John was talking about. The personal connections and work has been a great differentiator for RG175. Additionally, Adam Peichert has been a consultant for me previously and helped during this search as well. Adam is a graduate of the first school that I taught and he truly understands the type of guidance needed as a candidate. Both John and Adam have been truly instrumental whenever I am in a search.
If you had one piece of advice for other candidates, what would it be?
You have probably heard this many times, but having a mentor who you can truly trust has been so important. At St. Paul’s, Bruce Wilhelm was such a great mentor to help me look at administrative positions and encourage me through the process. At All Saints’, Dr. Bird has been so helpful for me to look at the future and guide me through the process of Assistant Head and beyond. When I first met Melissa Soderberg, I can see how she can be a great mentor for me.
What do you enjoy most about your job as it pertains to Independent Schools?
As Upper School Head, I have the privilege of setting the tone and culture that I feel would be most helpful for students, faculty, and parents. As with most independent schools, community is the biggest reason why families choose us over the public schools. Being intentional to guide the culture where each student is seen, each family feels like they belong, and each faculty member feels supported as they constantly navigate the push and pull between the curricular alignment, while affording them freedom to target the needs of the students. Additionally, as Upper School Head, I really enjoy helping guide the students and then for the students come back after graduation to let us know how prepared they are for their next steps, especially beyond just the immediate future. I enjoy the connections that I’ve been able to make and appreciate the relationships that I’ve been able to form that goes beyond that school year. I also enjoy being a troubleshooter for various members of the community and help them out. Putting some ease when it’s a stressful time for them.