Mr. Joseph Hanrahan is the Head of School at Marianapolis Preparatory School. Mr. Hanrahan is in his tenth year proudly leading the private co-educational community grades 9-12 and 100 faculty and staff. In his role as Head of School, Mr. Hanrahan oversees all facets of the management of the School and works closely with his administrative team and colleagues to ensure the School’s mission statement and dynamic and innovative curriculum is available to the student community every day.
Mr. Hanrahan received a B.A. in Secondary Education/Social Studies from the State University of New York – Fredonia in 1987, an M.A. in History from Providence College in 1990, and an M.B.A. from the University of Connecticut in 2007.
Prior to joining the Marianapolis community, Mr. Hanrahan worked at Cheshire Academy, a private preparatory school. At Cheshire, Mr. Hanrahan taught U.S. History for international students, World History, and advanced electives in war and military subjects. He also served as Dean of Students, Director of Enrollment Management, Dean of Residential Life, Director of Summer Programs, Director of Alumni & Development, and Associate Head of School.
Mr. Hanrahan’s teaching career has continued at Marianapolis, where he has co-taught the course Introduction to Business and Entrepreneurship both on campus and in the virtual diploma program.
While the balance of Mr. Hanrahan’s 32-year professional career has been spent in secondary school education, he also spent three years working at the University of Connecticut, first as Director of Development for the School of Engineering, and then as Assistant Vice President for Alumni & Development at the University of Connecticut’s Health Center.
Mr. Hanrahan lives vicariously through his students in the fine and performing arts. He is always amazed by the talent they demonstrate in each art and dance show, musical performance, and drama production. He is also a sports fan and enjoys attending as many Marianapolis sporting contests as possible, and has coached golf, soccer, baseball and basketball throughout his career in education.
Mr. Hanrahan and his wife, Jane, have four children, all of whom have graduated from Marianapolis: Jack ’13, Mary Beth ’14, Billy ’15 and Michael ’20.