Vanessa Leung ’25 & Jeff Wang ’26
Picture of Dr. Ivory D. Hills
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Dr. Hills’ office at Deerfield Academy couldn’t seem more ordinary: a simple room with a desk in the middle where he works as the current Dean of Faculty and chemistry teacher. A closer look reveals colorful comic posters decorating the walls, hinting at his inner personality: a fine arts student with a doctoral degree in chemistry.
As St. Mark’s bids farewell to the Warrens, we will welcome Dr. Ivory Hills as our new head of school in the fall of 2024. Dr. Hills spent 13 years at Deerfield, where he worked as a chemistry teacher, the Director of Sustainability, and Academic Dean. He now serves as the Dean of Faculty and teaches one section of chemistry. “I will be with my 10th graders tomorrow morning,” Dr. Hills says, “they demand donuts on Friday.”
Before Deerfield, Dr. Hills completed his postdoc on materials research with different polymers and his PhD in organic chemistry at MIT. He earned his undergraduate degree at UNC-Chapel Hill, initially majoring in physics until “[he] realized [he] wasn’t very good at math,” resulting in his switch to chemistry. He then worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a trained synthetic chemist.
When Dr. Hills was in high school, he was a theater major taking seven science classes. “I feel like I’m a fine arts student who became a scientist. Maybe in my time at St. Mark’s, you’ll see that.”
Towards the end of May, we had the privilege of scheduling a Zoom interview with Dr. Hills to understand more about his educational philosophy and vision for St. Mark’s. It was an honor talking to Dr. Hills, and we’re happy to share his answers with the community!
Educational Philosophy
“Every day, I think that I’m one day closer to my last day on Earth. So I’m strongly motivated to do as many good things as I can in the limited time that I have.” In his early career as a chemist, Dr. Hills found it challenging to see his direct impact: “In drug discovery, if you make a drug, you can help lots of people in one fell swoop. But I think people don't realize how much luck informs it. I was at one research site where we had 300 chemists, a hundred of them with PhDs. Of the 300 chemists, about four of us, not me, but four of the 300 had ever worked on a project that succeeded. So you had about 296 chemists, many of whom would retire, never having worked on a successful drug.”
Dr. Hills decided to move from his pharmaceutical career to education. “Now that I’m in education, my next step is to try to have a larger impact. There are about 100 graduates per year at St. Mark's, and I'm going to take care of every single one of them like they're my own children.”
Dr. Hills also stresses the importance of the humanities and the arts, especially in a society where value is more often placed on STEM: “I believe in English class so that students can read literature and come to build empathy for characters and stories, and work on their creative and analytical writing. I believe in history class so that you know where we've come from and the history of all humans together because, as a scientist and a mathematician, you can develop new things, but if you're not connected to literature and the arts, you forget why you should solve problems. You forget about humans. We solve problems for each other, so I think a philosophy religion component is also quite important, especially in high school.”
He also emphasizes the importance of taking appropriate risks: “I think in the modern day students can be timid because they want to do exactly what is right so they can go to the college of their choice, but there are no guarantees. Colleges don't have to accept anybody they don't want to accept. So if you're gonna contort your entire personality to please some faceless college, that breaks my heart. You do not need to change yourself to make somebody you don't know happy. And you being you will get you into a perfectly fine college, I know it.”
Dr. Hills also touches on a curriculum that integrates good decision-making: “In the 20th and 21st century, there has been a lot of emphasis on persuasive essays and convincing people you are right, which is important. But some are good at persuading others that they are right when they are not right. Some of them are even on TV, and so if we can have a decision-making curriculum, we can say the most important thing is to learn how to make good decisions. Then, you can try to convince people you are right.”
Vision for St. Marks
When asked about his vision for the future of St. Mark’s, Dr. Hills hopes for a blend between humanities and STEM and a culture that pushes against over-specializing too early. Most high schoolers don’t “quite yet know what they're going to be awesome at.” Dr. Hills cites his own experience as a student who doubled up on science classes but also fell in love with instrumental and singing music.
Dr. Hills encourages a more explorative approach to high school: students should have “the Venn diagram of a lot of things coming together. We don't want the light that burns the brightest and the briefest. We want the light that burns the brightest and the longest.”
When asked about his views on AI in education, Dr. Hills envisions a very intentional writing curriculum for third and fourth formers, “because clear communication is the foundation for everything else.” He believes that it is his role, along with the other faculty at St. Mark’s, to adapt to a world where AI will be everywhere. Dr. Hills introduces the analogy of calculators in his explanation: “Just like how you don't give a first grader a calculator: they need to learn how to do arithmetic by hand first.”
Aside from the educational sector, Dr. Hills also hopes to make adjustments to seated meals. Dr. Hill was quick to clarify that he is a big proponent of seated meals, but there is room for improvement here at St. Marks. Dr. Hills is concerned about the “physical constraints” around seated meals at St. Mark’s, and expresses that he thinks our dining hall and servery are too small, which takes away from the intended experience. “Sit down meals are very important and we have to find a way to do it right”.
Finally, Dr. Hills also thinks that cell phones do not need to be as prevalent. Dr. Hills admits that a phone policy is always a tricky topic, but he was quick to dismiss any rumors about mandatory cell phone restrictions. “I want students to focus on what they need to focus on during the time they are in school,” he remarks. “I'm not against cell phones at 4:30 in the afternoon, but cell phones at 10 a.m concern me.” Dr. Hills acknowledges that most information shared across St. Mark’s is “just-in-time information” that requires students to constantly check their email. Dr. Hill expresses his wish to change this system. “I would love to partner with students to find ways for them to focus on the things that matter to them.”
As we bid a heartfelt farewell to the Warrens, we welcome Dr. Ivory Hills to the helm of St. Mark’s with eager anticipation. Dr. Hills, with his diverse background in chemistry, education, and the arts, is sure to bring about a unique perspective to our community. His journey from pharmaceuticals to academia reflects a profound dedication to making impactful change and a commitment to nurturing the potential of every student, and his thoughtful remarks about improvements to be made in the future presents a clear vision of how St. Mark’s can continue to grow as a school and a community.
“We don't want the light that burns the brightest and the briefest. We want the light that burns the brightest and the longest.” — Dr. Hill