PITTSFIELD – For the first time in its 128-year history, Maine Central Institute will have a female head of school next July.

The MCI board of trustees officially hired Joanne Szadkowski, 43, of Cleveland, Ohio, as its 27th leader at a final meeting early Saturday.

As word spread around the community of the choice, those close to MCI expressed delight with the selection.

After 18 years on the job, current Head of School Douglas Cummings resigned effective June 30, 2004. Szadkowski will take over July 1.

Michael Hodgins, MCI board of trustees chairman, said more than 50 people inquired about the head of school position and there were 30 applicants. Five finalists visited the campus, and the decision came down to Szadkowski and Frank Hackett, superintendent of the Bangor schools.

In a prepared statement released by the school Sunday, Szadkowski said, “I have never felt so instantly connected to a school and its people as I have at MCI. I felt as though I had known these people before – their warmth, sincerity and generosity of spirit made it so easy to share their dreams for MCI. Everyone, students, staff, faculty, administrators, parents, alumni/ae, board members, community members, and friends of the school were so genuinely concerned and invested in this process that I couldn’t help but become excited at the possibilities for this wonderful school.

“I’m looking for a place to call home with a school family to love and grow, and I believe that is what I’ve found at MCI,” Szadkowski said.

“The response from those who met her and had an opportunity to learn about her experience and vision was overwhelming,” said Hodgins. “It is clear that her reception into the MCI community will be with enthusiastic support, which will truly enhance her ability to help lead this school forward.”

Szadkowski has been an independent schoolteacher, coach and administrator for the past 23 years. Most recently she was school director of Rocky Mountain Academy in Idaho after serving as interim head of school at Evansville Day School.

She began her career with independent schools as a teacher, coach and dorm assistant at The Andrews School in Ohio, where she served for 17 years. Affectionately nicknamed “Ski” by colleagues and students alike, she was quickly promoted to the positions of athletic director, chair of physical education and health, and dean of students of the large girls’ boarding-day school.

As dean, Szadkowski was a primary contact with the school’s large international population, where she focused on the students’ successful integration into the school and greater community.

In her letter to MCI’s search committee, Szadkowski described herself as “an independent school loyalist who is grounded in my conviction to regard all issues of diversity with great import. I am known to be a leader and spokesperson for the acceptance of all people and would welcome the support of a school community committed to helping challenge and change the injustices of our society. I am also an outdoorswoman and environmentalist and have a strong conviction on the importance of building stewardship for our natural environment.”

In college, she spent an academic term abroad in rural Ireland, where she lived with residents while researching the history of Irish women and receiving advanced training in equestrienne studies. She has been on safari in Kenya and Tanzania, trekked across the wilderness of Alaska’s Denali National Park, backpacked across the Grand Canyon, and sea-kayaked in the San Juan Islands and British Columbia.

As an avid outdoorswoman, she has climbed in the Rocky Mountains, the Tetons, the Cascades and the White and Green mountains of New England. She has led student groups to Costa Rica, the Hopi and Navaho reservations, the Gullah community of Sapelo Island, and the Dominican Republic.

A cum laude graduate of Lake Erie College, Szadkowski received her master of arts degree from Kent State University where she was a summa cum laude graduate in 1986. Additionally, she was awarded a full scholarship for study at The Klingenstein Institute at Columbia University in New York.

In college, Szadkowski played varsity volleyball, basketball and softball, held an office in student government and was a competitive rider. She was inducted into the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.