Raynard Stuart Kington is an American doctor and educator, currently serving as the 16th

head of school A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

since 2020. Kington graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

and a

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

degree. After that, he received a

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in health policy and economics from the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

. He previously served as the 13th president of

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

from 2010 to 2020 and as principal deputy director of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

from 2003 to 2008 and from 2009 to 2010.

Education

At age 16, Kington became a student at the

. He received a

degree with distinction at age 19 and an

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

degree at age 21. He completed a residency in

internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

at Michael Reese Medical Center. He was then appointed as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. While there, he received a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

degree with distinction, and a

degree in health policy and economics from the

."Biography," Grinnell College, accessed December 5, 2019, https://www.grinnell.edu/about/leadership/president/bio."Grinnell Announces 13th President," ''The Grinnell Magazine'', February 17, 2010, https://magazine.grinnell.edu/news/releases/grinnell-announces-13th-president.

National Institutes of Health

Kington served as principal deputy director of the

from 2003 to 2008. He led the agency in this capacity until August 17, 2009, when

Francis Collins Francis Sellers Collins (born April 14, 1950) is an American physician-scientist who discovered the genes associated with a number of diseases and led the Human Genome Project. He served as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) ...

was appointed director. He continued to serve as principal deputy director of the agency until August 2010.Jocelyn Kaiser, "NIH Deputy Director Kington Leaving for Grinnell," ''Science'', February 17, 2010, https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-deputy-director-kington-leaving-grinnell. Speaking of Kington's tenure at the agency, Senator Tom Harkin praised his leadership for judiciously allocating $10 billion in congressionally-approved funds, implementing then president

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

's Executive Order on human embryonic stem cell research, and strengthening conflict of interest regulations. He is on the board of directors of the

American Council on Education The American Council on Education (ACE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) U.S. higher education association established in 1918. ACE's members are the leaders of approximately 1,600 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher educati ...

. As Deputy Director, he co-authored a study which found that Black scientists were less likely than White scientists to win approval of research grants, exposing

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their Race (human categorization), race, ancestry, ethnicity, ethnic or national origin, and/or Human skin color, skin color and Hair, hair texture. Individuals ...

in academia.

Grinnell College

Kington became the thirteenth president of Grinnell College on August 1, 2010. At Grinnell, Kington was noted for increasing diversity and inclusion efforts, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, creating a prestigious Social Justice Prize, and working toward greater career preparation for students after they left college by championing Grinnell's ''Center for Careers, Life and Service''. He led an effort to invest $140 million in renewing the campus. He strengthened ties to the city of Grinnell, in part by promoting a ''Zone of Confluence'' in which the campus and downtown areas work on joint redevelopment projects. During his presidency, he created a $300,000 annual prize to honor three persons throughout the world who have advanced the cause of

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

; the Grinnell College Innovator for Social Justice Prize has attracted substantial interest since its inception in 2010, and it has been cited as being the largest award of its kind by ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

''.The Nation, Anna Lekas Miller, September 13, 2011
Grinnell College Announces $300,000 Social Justice Prize:The Nation commends Grinnell for sponsoring the award and encourages all eligible readers to apply for this prize, which is one of the largest of its kind available in the US.
Retrieved January 11, 2020 He said that the purpose of the award was to encourage young persons who share a commitment to change the world for the better. Along with 350 college presidents, he signed a joint letter urging Congress to pass greater

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

measures. After Donald Trump was elected, he signed a letter along with 109 other college presidents, to urge the president-elect to take a more forceful stand against harassment, hate and acts of violence. In addition, Kington established a fund to spur innovation, oversaw the allocation of $140 million for campus buildings, and promoted ties to the city of Grinnell through investment programs. He faced criticism for his handling of an effort to expand the Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers. To honor Raynard S. Kington’s achievements during his 10 years as Grinnell’s president, a popular outdoor plaza on Grinnell’s campus was named in his honor. In the early stages of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in March 2020, there were no cases at Grinnell, but Kington and the administration asked students to go home and continue their learning online, as a general safety precaution.

Phillips Academy

In December 2019 Kington was selected to be the 16th Head of School of

in Andover, an elite boarding school with 1100 students. He took over the role in the summer of 2020, succeeding

John Palfrey John Gorham Palfrey VII (born 1972) is an American educator, scholar, and law professor. His areas of focus include emerging media, Internet censorship, Internet freedom, online Transparency (social), transparency and accountability, and child sa ...

who resigned to become the head of the

MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 117 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.6 billion and ...

. Kington is the first African-American and openly gay head of school since the academy was founded in 1778. He began his leadership there as the school was grappling with the

Personal life

Kington is married to Peter T. Daniolos, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Iowa. They have two sons: Emerson and Basil.

External links

Raynard Kington's address to the Grinnell College community, February 17, 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kington, Raynard S. Living people University of Michigan Medical School alumni Presidents of Grinnell College University of Michigan alumni Wharton School alumni National Institutes of Health people African-American LGBTQ people American LGBTQ scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Heads of Phillips Academy Andover Members of the National Academy of Medicine 21st-century American LGBTQ people