Stephen Guild Kurtz (September 9, 1926 – January 24, 2008) was an American academic and educator, who served as the eleventh principal of Phillips Exeter Academy.

in history from Princeton University in 1948 after completing a senior thesis titled "Humanist Ideals of Education in the Renaissance.

He later received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1953 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "American Politics, 1795-1800.

He was a member of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.

[6] Kurtz married Katherine Jeanne Godolphin at Princeton University Chapel in September 1947; they had a daughter and two sons.