Peter McLaughlin

Peter McLaughlin (born 1956) is a British academic, historian, and educator. He is the CEO of Max Learning Limited, the educational arm of the Max Group. He was Headmaster of The Doon School. Before joining Doon in 2009, he served as Headmaster of Douai School, and Principal of the British International School in Cairo and of Casterton School in England. McLaughlin retired from Doon in May 2016.

Education

McLaughlin was born in Northern Ireland and raised in Africa. He was educated at Prince Edward School in Salisbury, Rhodesia and University of Rhodesia in Salisbury, where he read history. He then studied for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the London School of Economics, United Kingdom.

Career

• Lecturer in Modern history, University of Rhodesia, Salisbury, 1977–1983 (University of Zimbabwe from 1980, Harare from 1982)
• Research fellow, London School of Economics, 1980–1983
• Headmaster, Deputy Head, Housemaster and Teacher at St. George's College (HMC), Weybridge, Surrey 1983–1997
• Headmaster of Douai School (HMC), 1997–1999
• Headmaster of British International School in Cairo, Cairo, 1999–2005
• Headmaster of Casterton School (GSA), Casterton, Cumbria, 2005–2009
• Headmaster of The Doon School (HMC, IBSC), India, 2009–2016

Work

McLaughlin's doctorate was a study of the role of British Imperial defence policy in shaping the Rhodesian armed forces from the 1890s to the 1950s. During the Rhodesian Bush War, he served in operational areas as a field reservist in the British South Africa Police. He set up the War Studies course at the University of Rhodesia (now the University of Zimbabwe) and was awarded an Association of Commonwealth Universities Post-doctoral Fellowship to the London School of Economics to study the British munitions industry in the First World War. He left the world of research and lecturing to carve out a successful career as a headmaster at major Independent schools in England. From 1999 to 2005 he was the Principal of the British International School in Cairo before his departure to head Casterton School.

In 2009, McLaughlin moved to India to head an independent boarding school, The Doon School, succeeding Kanti Bajpai. He has lived in Dehradun in India ever since. In 2016, McLaughlin announced his early retirement from The Doon School with three years left on his second contract as Headmaster, and submitted his resignation to Chairman of the Board of Governors Gautam Thapar. He was succeeded by Matthew Raggett, another British educator.

Other appointments

• Member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, 2010 to 2016.

Family

McLaughlin is married to Elizabeth McLaughlin and has two sons both of whom are studying in the United Kingdom.