Leadership Team

The Leadership Team meets regularly to discuss issues and make decisions related to the overall operation of the Council. They are responsible for establishing and monitoring the strategic goals of the organization; creating or improving Council processes; determining future needs and directions of the Council; and providing guidance and overall leadership to Council staff.

---

Executive Director - Gene Wilhoit

Gene Wilhoit assumed his role as executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) in November of 2006 having spent his entire professional career serving education at the local, state, and national levels. Gene began his career as a social studies teacher in Ohio and Indiana. He served as a program director in the Indiana Department of Education, an administrator in Kanawha County West Virginia, and a special assistant in the U.S. Department of Education before assuming the position of executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), which he held 1986-1993.

From 1994 to 2006, Gene led two state education agencies, as director of the Arkansas Department of Education and as deputy commissioner and commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education. In those positions, he shepherded finance reform, led equity initiatives, designed and implemented assessment and accountability systems, advanced nationally recognized preschool and technology programs, and reorganized state agencies to focus on service and support.

Gene holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and economics from Georgetown College and a master's in teaching, political science, and economics from Indiana University, Bloomington. Wilhoit has also studied education administration at West Virginia College of Graduate Studies. He is a member of numerous education organizations, has served on national and state commissions, and has written and spoken on a variety of education issues.

He and his wife, Rebecca Campbell Wilhoit, have three children, Christopher, Kara, and Jason.

---

Leadership Team

Bruce Buterbaugh, Chief Financial Officer
Melissa Zack Johnston, Chief Operating Officer, Interim Strategic Initiative Director, Information Systems and Research
Chris Minnich, Senior Membership Director
Scott Norton, Strategic Initiative Director for Standards, Assessment, and Accountability
Janice Poda, Strategic Initiative Director, Education Workforce