List of superintendents of public instruction of Wisconsin

This is a list of people who have held the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin. Partisan affiliation is indicated by shading for superintendents elected prior to 1902, when partisan elections for this office were ended. Since 1902, state superintendents have been elected on a nonpartisan basis with no affiliation on the ballot; thus, a state superintendent is not allowed to affiliate with a political party during his or her time in office. However, an individual elected or appointed to the office of state superintendent may be a member of a political party before and after their time in office. For example, Herbert J. Grover and Charles P. Cary both held prior partisan legislative or county office whereas Tony Evers ran for and won a partisan governor's race.

#	Superintendent	Party	Entered office	Left office	Notes
1	Eleazer Root	Independent[1]	January 1, 1849[2]	January 5, 1852
2	Azel P. Ladd	Democratic[3]	January 5, 1852[2]	January 2, 1854
3	Hiram A. Wright	Democratic[4]	January 2, 1854[2]	May 29, 1855[2]	Died in office.[5]
--Vacant--			May 29, 1855	June 26, 1855
4	Alfred Constantine Barry	Democratic[5]	June 26, 1855[2]	January 4, 1858	Appointed by Governor William A. Barstow.[5]
5	Lyman Draper	Democratic[6][a]	January 4, 1858[2]	January 2, 1860
6	Josiah Little Pickard	Republican[8]	January 2, 1860[2]	September 30, 1864[2]	Resigned.[9]
--Vacant--			September 30, 1864	October 1, 1864
7	John G. McMynn	National Union[10]	October 1, 1864[2]	January 6, 1868	Appointed by Governor James T. Lewis, then elected in 1865.
8	Alexander J. Craig	?	January 6, 1868[2]	July 6, 1870[2]	Died in office.
9	Samuel Fallows	?	July 6, 1870[2]	January 4, 1874	Appointed by Governor Lucius Fairchild, then elected in 1871.
10	Edward Searing	Liberal Republican[11]	January 4, 1874[2]	January 7, 1878
11	William Clarke Whitford	Republican[12]	January 7, 1878[2]	January 2, 1882
12	Robert Graham	Republican[13]	January 2, 1882[2]	January 3, 1887
13	Jesse B. Thayer	Republican[14]	January 3, 1887[2]	January 5, 1891
14	Oliver Elwin Wells	Democratic[15]	January 5, 1891[2]	January 7, 1895
15	John Q. Emery	Republican[16]	January 7, 1895[2]	January 2, 1899
16	Lorenzo D. Harvey	Republican[17]	January 2, 1899[2]	January 5, 1903
17	Charles P. Cary	None[b]	January 5, 1903[2]	July 1, 1921
18	John Callahan	None[18]	July 1, 1921[2]	July 1, 1949
19	George Earl Watson	None[18]	July 1, 1949[c]	July 1, 1961
20	Angus B. Rothwell	None[18]	July 1, 1961	July 1, 1966[18]	Resigned.
21	William C. Kahl	None[18]	July 1, 1966[18]	July 2, 1973	Appointed by Governor Warren P. Knowles, then elected in 1969.
22	Barbara Thompson	None[18]	July 2, 1973	July 6, 1981
23	Herbert J. Grover	None[d][18]	July 6, 1981	April 9, 1993[18]	Resigned.
-	Lee S. Dreyfus	Republican	April 9, 1993	July 7, 1993	Appointed by Governor Tommy Thompson to oversee the Department of Public Instruction.
24	John T. Benson	None[18]	July 7, 1993	July 2, 2001
25	Elizabeth Burmaster	None[18]	July 2, 2001	July 6, 2009
26	Tony Evers	None[e][18]	July 6, 2009	January 7, 2019	Resigned after election as governor of Wisconsin.
27	Carolyn Stanford Taylor	None[18]	January 7, 2019	July 5, 2021	Appointed by Governor Tony Evers.
28	Jill Underly	None[18]	July 5, 2021	--Current--

Number of superintendents of public instruction of Wisconsin by party affiliation

Party	Superintendents
None	9
Republican	6
Democratic	5
Unknown Party	3
Liberal Republican	1
National Union	1
Independent	1

Notes

1. Draper also appeared on the Reform Democratic ticket.^[7]
2. Previously a Republican county superintendent of schools.
3. Technically Watson delayed beginning his first term for about a week due to an issue with pending legislation, but he was appointed by the governor to take office in an acting capacity on the regular schedule.
4. Previously a Democratic state legislator
5. He subsequently was elected governor running as a Democrat.