Lipscomb Academy will have a new high school principal come July 1, when Lanny Witt will take over from longtime leader Mark Pugh.

Witt will come to Nashville from Boyd-Buchanan School in Chattanooga, where he has been head of school for five years. Before that, he was, among other things, president of Southwest Christian School in Fort Worth, Texas, and secondary school principal at Alabama Christian Academy in Montgomery.

“Lanny brings substantial experience at a number of public and private institutions in three states. He has a very clear idea of what academic excellence is and fully understands the spiritual formation component that is so vital to our community,” said Lipscomb President Randy Lowry. “We are excited about what can happen when someone who has great experience brings new ideas that will launch us into an exciting future.”

Witt's hiring is the latest in a series of big moves at Lipscomb Academy, the former David Lipscomb Campus School. The school last week named a new elementary school principal and will this summer start on a renovation and expansion project that will include the construction of new middle and high schools by 2016.