DEDHAM — The town’s school committee voted to select Marblehead Assistant Superintendent Nan Murphy as the district’s next superintendent Wednesday night, filling the vacancy left by former Superintendent Michael Welch’s retirement last year.
Murphy is the second prominent Marblehead administrator to accept a superintendent position in recent weeks, with Marblehead High School Principal Dan Bauer taking the top job in Danvers. She was also selected as a finalist for the vacant superintendent positions in Milton and Marlborough, but was ultimately passed over for those positions.
Murphy was one of five finalists for the position, ultimately being selected over Renee McCall, June Saba-Maguire, Marlene DiLeo, and Armand Pires. She had served as Marblehead’s assistant superintendent of teaching and learning since 2020 and worked in Lowell Public Schools before that.
The School Committee heaped praise on Murphy before unanimously selecting her to lead Dedham’s schools.
Vice Chair Victor Hebert formally nominated Murphy, praising her for her ability to address many of the key points identified in the search process, including leadership, a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, collaborative communication, and operations management.
“Her thoughtfulness with every question … she brought me out, I wanted to engage with her more, which is a powerful thing for someone who’s being interviewed in a front of a crowd they don’t know,” Hebert said. “[She] made me want to ask more questions and find out more about [her].”
Committee member Cailen McCormick said she was “really excited” about the nomination of Murphy, praising her for “her authenticity, her dedication, her creativity, [and] her collaboration.”
“All of this was really very consistent from the feedback from educators, from community members, from the references we called,” she said, adding that it seemed as though the community had come to a consensus around Murphy as the best choice for the district.
Murphy’s ability to surround herself with a strong staff was a key factor cited by Committee member Chris Polito.
“When you look at who you want as super, who you want to lead the district … [you’re] not looking for somebody that can do everything,” he said. “[You’re] looking for somebody that knows everything, that can put people around them that can do the job … that’s why she stands out to me more than everybody.”
