Quentin McDowell was named Mercersburg Academy's head of school in 2021. Previously, McDowell was named Mercersburg's associate head of school for external relations in 2019 after serving for three years as the assistant head of school for enrollment. He arrived at Mercersburg in 2007 as a member of the history faculty and became director of summer and external programs in 2008—a position he held until 2012 when he joined the admission office as the senior associate director of admission and financial aid. Quentin also served as the head boys' varsity soccer coach for eight years, leading the Blue Storm to its first-ever Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship and the PAISAA state championship game in 2014.
Prior to his arrival at Mercersburg, he was a member of the history faculty and head boys' varsity soccer coach at Cushing Academy in Massachusetts for two years. McDowell is co-founder and assistant director of the Erdmann Institute for Enrollment Leadership and co-founder and faculty member of the Future Leaders Institute. He is a frequent presenter at national conferences such as NAIS, TABS, and IECA.
A native of coastal Washington State, Quentin attended Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire, as a postgraduate before matriculating to Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he earned a BA in Religious Studies and was a second-team, all-Centennial-Conference selection and co-captain of the mens' varsity soccer team. He holds an MA in Educational Leadership from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Quentin and his wife, Lauren, have three children: Nina '25, Ewan, and Rooney.