GREENWICH, CONN -- After four years of working to assure the excellence of Catholic schools in the archdiocese, associate superintendent William S. McKersie is moving on to head his own school system.

The board of education of Greenwich, Conn. voted unanimously April 25 to appoint McKersie, 52, superintendent of schools effective July 9.

Currently the associate superintendent for academic excellence with the Archdiocese of Boston in Braintree, McKersie provides strategic direction to promote academic excellence in 122 schools serving 42,000 students.

McKersie was selected from a large pool of qualified candidates after a 10-month national search, according to a press release from the Greenwich Board of Education.

"After a national and comprehensive search process, the board is pleased to have found a leader in Bill McKersie," Greenwich Board of Education chairman Leslie Moriarty said.

"Bill's knowledge and experience in the educational process, his track record of continuous improvement, and his ability to connect with teachers and administrators will ably guide the district's efforts to increase achievement for all students," she said.

McKersie brings more than 30 years of career experience, which he started as an admissions officer and faculty member of the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield, Mass.

He moved on to work in Chicago with the Joyce Foundation, where he directed K-12 and higher education funding for schools throughout the Midwest in the '80s.

In the '90s McKersie worked as an instructor at the University of Chicago, and as an education policy consultant nationally, before he became senior program director for The Cleveland Foundation, the world's first community foundation, in Ohio.

McKersie became the associate dean for development and alumni relations for Harvard University's Graduate School of Education in 2004, before he became the associate superintendent for academic excellence for the Archdiocese of Boston in 2008.

In 2010, Dr. McKersie served as one of 70 nationally-selected peer reviewers for the first and second rounds of the Race to the Top Grant Competition.