Ten facts about Dr. Judith Glickman, ASL's fifth Head of School (ASL 1992-98)

During the 2020-21 school year, we're celebrating ASL’s 70th anniversary with a series of 70 stories highlighting our school’s vibrant past, present and future.

Judith appeared with Grade 8 students in The Scroll in May 1992, shortly before she arrived as Head

“What better way to determine what we are doing well and what we could be doing even better than to assess what we have, to ask ourselves how we know excellence when we see it, and to map a plan to meet those ideas.” —Judith Glickman (September 1992)

1. A California girl through and through, Judith was an undergraduate at University of California at Berkeley where she studied, among other things, Mammalian Physiology. She later earned her Master’s in education there, and, in 1978, received her PhD in educational psychology from the University of Southern California.
    
2. Prior to her move to ASL, Judith had served as the Superintendent of La Canada school district near Los Angeles, California, from 1988 until 1992, as well as Superintendent of the Moraga school district outside of San Francisco. After leaving London, Judith took up the post of interim head of school at Princeton Day School, 2001-02, and was also the head of school at La Jolla Day School for six years. 
    
   
   Judith introduces herself to the student body at the opening assembly in 1992
    
3. As the first female head, Judith advised the Board of Trustees who appointed her that she preferred the job title “Head of the American School in London” as opposed to “Headmaster,” which only worked for males. We know future Heads of School Coreen Hester (ASL 2007-17) and Robin Appleby (ASL 2017-present) are grateful for her forward-thinking!
    
4. During Judith’s first year, ASL community members were “full-fledged participants in the economic recession.” Enrollment was slightly down, and expenditure during the 1991-92 school year was not fully covered. This meant that Judith had to work with her administration and the Board to make changes to the budget to “offset short-term losses and...maximize long-term gain.” 
    
5. On 1 April 1993, April Fool’s Day, a transport workers’ strike resulted in the sudden cancellation of classes, extending spring break by one day. “This is no joke,” Judith wrote to parents announcing the decision. Lucky students and teachers!
    
   
   In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the release of the Beatles' Abbey Road album in 1994, Judith and students recreated the famous album cover, which appeared on the cover of Accents in Spring 1995. Left to Right: Andrew McGloin ’06, Saori Hirabayashi '’1, Casey Mace ’95 and Dr. Glickman
    
6. During her second year as head, Judith began having lunch with students every “A-Day” to help build a stronger partnership between herself and the high school student body. She also increased her involvement with the student council so she could get to know the students better. When asked, during her first year, what her best memory of working at ASL was, Judith responded, “meeting with groups of students to get ideas and find novel solutions to difficult issues.”
    
   
   Judith joined students on an Alternatives trip to Edinburgh during the 1994-95 school year. She's pictured above with former HS counselor Eileen Penman (ASL 1990-2006)
    
7. Several initiatives began during Judith’s ASL tenure. The first issue of Accents, the school magazine, was published in the spring of 1993, during her first year. The Annual Fund program, under the leadership of Judith, director of institutional advancement Don Kirkwood (ASL 1992-94), and parent volunteers Maryann and George Macdonald P ’94 ’98, was launched in the fall of 1992 with a goal of £165,000 to support new classroom computers. In 1994, she oversaw the completion of a long-range plan that would address goals for facilities, field trips, technology, curriculum and professional development. That same year, the purchase of Canons Park playing fields, made possible through the generosity of parents’ donations, was realized. 
    
8. Along with members of the faculty, trustees and past parents, Judith attended ASL’s first large-school alumni reunion organized by the newly formed alumni association that was held in Washington, DC during the summer in 1995. Nearly 400 ASLers were in attendance. Reflecting on the weekend, Judith later wrote to parents, “...the reunion illustrates the pride we share in an esteemed place of learning. It speaks of a purposeful community that identifies, commits and recommits continually to core values…[which affect] the way people think and feel and behave. They are so significant that they permeate every aspect of the School and sustain their potency over time.” Judith would be thrilled that ASL’s Core Values really have endured—25 years since she authored this letter!
    
   
   Now an alumna of the school, Judith attends numerous alumni events in the US. She attended the Washington, DC reunion in 2000 and is pictured above with Sue Katzen ’82
    
9. Upon her departure in June 1998, Judith wrote to the community describing the lasting impressions she will remember about her ASL experience, from the “...color and liveliness which you feel
   instantly upon walking into the school” to the “prospective families in reception beginning the cycle once again.” “ASL has been...an A+ experience,” she remarked.
    
   
   Judith catches up with former colleagues at an ASL event in San Francisco in 2014. Pictured L-R: former LS principal Julie Ryan (ASL 1994-2013), former assistant MS principal Jaime Dominguez (ASL 1997-2005) and Judith
    
10. Today, Judith is an organizational consultant, assisting schools and other not-for-profit organizations in strategic thinking and executive coaching. She lives in Northern California with her husband, Bud.
     
    
    Bud and Judith pictured in the parents' June newsletter, 1998