Gene Wilhoit, 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.

last updated 3/30/2009

Council of Chief State School Officers
One Massachusetts Avenue, NW · Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001-1431
voice: 202.336.7000 · fax: 202.408.8072