THE MICHAEL ULKU-STEINER FILE Education • MA in Educational Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University, 1998. • MA in Liberal Studies from Duke University, 1997. • BA, Phi Beta Kappa, in Interdisciplinary Studies (English, Spanish, Art History) from UNC-Chapel Hill, 1992. • Coursework in Spanish language and architecture at the Universitat de Barcelona, 1991. • Graduated Cum Laude from Albuquerque Academy, 1988. School Leadership Experience • Headmaster, The American School in Switzerland (TASIS), 2008-present. • Served a day and boarding school community with 630 students, 125 faculty members and a parent body with high and varied expectations. • Recruited 75 teachers and revised contract-building system toward greater equity and transparency. • Led the school’s first broadly participatory strategic planning process. • Managed annual budget of U.S. $27 million. Participated in first cash-flow-positive academic years in school’s 53-year history (FY 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012). • Shared in fundraising and planning for five new facilities (2009 theater, 2010 classroom building, 2010 dormitory/apartment/infirmary complex, 2012 arts/ athletics center and 2014 science center). • Guided the school through a period in which enrollment, faculty salaries, student financial aid and capital investments from tuition revenue all increased in each year (despite global economic crisis). • Upper School Director, Durham Academy, 2003-2008. • Dean of Students, The American School in Switzerland (TASIS), 2000-2003. • Teacher, advisor, coach and interim Director of Studies, Durham Academy, 1992-2000. • Co-Founder, APPLES service learning program at UNC-Chapel Hill, 1989-92. (Collaborated with undergraduate students, professors, administrators and community agency directors to infuse service-learning into university courses.) Additional Experience • Board member, El Centro Hispano de Durham, 2006-2008. • Translator and Tour Guide for Time Inc. during Barcelona Olympic Games, 1992. • Intern with Sports Illustrated for Kids magazine, summer 1990. • Co-Chair, Volunteer Action Committee, UNC-CH, 1989-90. • Executive Board member, Campus Y, UNC-CH, 1989-90. • Intern with Omaha Police Division, summer 1989. • Hurricane Island Outward Bound School (28-day paddling, hiking, rock-climbing course), 1988. Honors and Awards • F. Robertson Hershey Distinguished Faculty Award at Durham Academy, 1997. • Morehead Scholar at UNC-CH, 1988-92. • Orders of the Old Well (1991), Grail (1992) and Golden Fleece (1992) at UNC-CH. • Ernest L. Mackie Award (“presented to the man of the junior class judged most outstanding in character, scholarship, and leadership”) at UNC-CH, 1992. • Headmaster’s Award, Congressional Medal of Merit, Senior English, Spanish and Biology Prizes at Albuquerque Academy, 1988. Personal • Married to Dr. Beril Ulku-Steiner, developmental psychologist. • Children: Kenan and Lucy • Interests: Family play, travel, basketball, soccer, tennis, cycling, open-water swimming, reading, collecting baseball memorabilia, UNC basketball, Internazionale soccer and the Pittsburgh Pirates. • Languages: Italian (fluent), Spanish (rusty), Turkish and French (barely).
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Ulku-Steiner: Independent schools have more time, more skills and more tools in the toolbox. Independent schools listen to children, give them lots of options and fan sparks of interest and skill. Independent schools have to be contributors to their communities and partners, not piles of privilege to make their students more comfortable. Independent schools should be generating leaders for the community, partnering with the community that surrounds us and learning with them.
ABOVE: Ulku-Steiner holds his own in a soccer game with students at The American School in Switzerland.
DA: You said DA head of school was the only job you were interested in. That was pretty gutsy since you had announced you would be leaving TASIS in July. What path would you have taken if you had not returned to DA? Ulku-Steiner: Last summer we realized we were putting lot of eggs into the DA basket. Beril and I thought seriously about some other places, but we felt like it would be hard to go to them with integrity if things didn’t work out at DA. We were very focused and a little risky. If I hadn’t gotten the job at DA, I’d be in Turkey for a year learning Turkish, licking my wounds and coming up with plan B. We are critical consumers for our own kids and feel like DA has the right things for them. Lucy will be in fifth grade and Kenan will be in eighth grade next year. Michael Ulku-Steiner came to DA in 1992 to teach English and Spanish, a 21-year-old graduate fresh out of UNC-Chapel Hill. He returns to Durham Academy in July as head of school, a 42-year-old father of two. “We have both matured significantly since then,” said Ulku-Steiner.