Kirk Dwyer to end tenure as Burke Mountain Academy headmaster

EAST BURKE, Vt. — Burke Mountain Academy (BMA), the preeminent ski academy located in East Burke, Vt., announced today that Kirk Dwyer has expressed his intent to end his tenure as headmaster of the school at the end of the 2015-16 academic year.

Upon his departure in June of 2016, Dwyer will assume the role of Executive Director at Ski and Snowboard Club Vail.

“Kirk is leaving a great legacy at BMA,” said BMA Board Chair Willy Booker. “He has put our school in an ideal position to make this transition after 15 years of stable leadership.”

During the coming year, Dwyer will continue to lead BMA’s strategic initiatives to implement its alpine training venue expansion and improvements, as well as significant campus improvements. He recently wrapped up the school’s highly successful capital campaign “Funding the BMA Way” which saw a tenfold increase of the school’s endowment to over $5 million and paved the way for the current initiatives.

Kirk Dwyer

Dwyer’s outstanding achievements during his time at BMA, since taking the reins as headmaster in June of 2000, are wide reaching and include: building substantially upon BMA’s reputation as the first ski racing academy and home of future Olympians; under his leadership, BMA enjoyed unprecedented financial stability and students achieved great academic and athletic success – including, most recently, two world champion titles and an Olympic gold medal for 2013 alumna Mikaela Shiffrin; during his tenure, over two-thirds of BMA students have been accepted to leading selective colleges and universities with almost a quarter accepted at the most highly selective institutions in the United States as defined by U.S. News and World Reports; a successful organizational restructuring and resizing of the school in 2000 that led to 15 years of growing financial strength and paved the way for strategic investments in staff and programming that has ensured BMA’s continued excellence and leadership; the aforementioned capital campaign and growth of the endowment from several hundred thousand to over $5M; the acquisition, stabilization and successful sale of Burke Mountain that ensured a strong financial future for the mountain and has culminated most recently in groundbreaking for a new hotel complex and related development – expected to exceed $100 million dollars of investment in the resort; the successful formalization of perpetual “ski rights” for Burke Mountain Academy at one of the country’s best alpine training venues; and selection as one of the first programs in the country to receive USSA Gold Certified Club status in 2014, confirming BMA’s status as a leader and innovator in alpine ski racing.

The BMA Board has appointed a Transition Task Force led by Vice-Chair Ken Graham which will commence a search for BMA’s next headmaster in the coming weeks.

“On behalf of the entire Burke community I would like to thank Kirk for his many years of leadership and commitment to excellence,” commented Booker. “Kirk is deeply committed to supporting the orderly transition of leadership over the next year to assure that BMA enjoys continued success. … As an alumnus, I will always feel indebted to Kirk for securing our school’s future and for his many years of leadership. We all wish him the very best in his new role in Colorado.”

Release courtesy of BMA