Head of School, 1997-2001
Charles Dull (better known as Chuck) was HKIS’s Head of School from 1997 to 2001.
He started work at HKIS just after the handover of Hong Kong to China, so he faced a challenging task! According to the book “Hong Kong International School: Celebrating 40 years of Learning and Service”, marking the 40th anniversary of the school in 2007, “Six weeks after arriving, Dull gathered eighty leaders from the school and the community offsite, for a three-day, ‘Future Search Conference,’ in September 1997.” The goal was to get “focused on the core values of the HKIS community and, ultimately, put a five-year strategic plan in place…” Following further consultation with the whole school community, the plan was finalized in the school year 2001-02.
“Chuck was most effective, distinguished and beloved Head of School in the history of HKIS, in terms of his charm and his business acumen” said Mark Sheldon, whose son Garth was a student at HKIS when Chuck was Head of School. Mark was also the Director of HKIS’s Office of Institutional Advancement (as it was then called) from 2006 to 2009. “Chuck actually came out of the business side of the Lutheran Church, so he was very skilled at fundraising because he spoke the language of business. He was effective with school stakeholders and constituencies of all sorts, including the students – he was always out talking to people and he knew the students by name.”
The Charles W. Dull Visiting Scholar Speaker Series, named in his honor and founded in 2000, brings distinguished speakers to HKIS to interact with students, parents and faculty to focus on aspects of the school’s Mission, Vision and Student Learning Results.
Since retiring to Wisconsin, Chuck – along with former HKIS Head of School Jim Handrich – has done consultancy work for Lutheran school systems in the US. He has also returned to HKIS often to mentor new Heads of School.