Shrewsbury School welcomes Dr Richard Kowenicki

Shrewsbury School is delighted to welcome Dr Richard Kowenicki to the role of Deputy Head (Academic) this September. 

Dr Kowenicki is joining us from Westminster School and will teach Chemistry, as well as taking over the reins from Maurice Walters as he starts his new position as Senior Deputy Head of St Peter’s School in York.   

Dr Kowenicki emerged as the stand-out candidate in a rigorous national search process. He has a First Class degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, where he also studied for his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry.   

“It was while completing my PhD in Inorganic Chemistry, combining research with undergraduate teaching, that I discovered my passion for the latter over the former,” said Dr Kowenicki.  

“I was lucky enough to be given my first teaching job by a certain Tim Haynes at Tonbridge, where I qualified as a science teacher. I then moved to Westminster School, where I was Head of Chemistry for seven years and a Boarding Housemaster for six years before my move here. I am also a senior examiner for the Edexcel exam board and am passionate about fair access to Higher Education, being a founding trustee of the Linacre Institute, which helps northern state-school students access the UK’s leading universities. 

“Shrewsbury’s commitment to academic excellence within the context of a whole-person education is a big draw for me. I’m very excited to be taking up the Deputy Head Academic role, and I’m looking forward to helping uphold Shrewsbury’s excellent academic standards, especially working with inspirational and talented colleagues and pupils who are rightly proud of their achievements both inside and outside the classroom”. 

Dr Kowenicki is joined at Shrewsbury by his wife Sarah and three young children; Adam (8), Alistair (6) and Isabelle (3). 

We wish Dr Kowenicki all the best at Shrewsbury School.