List of presidents of the Chicago Board of Education

The Chicago Board of Education is led by a president.^[1]

President of Chicago Board of Education
Incumbent Sean Harden since December 11, 2024

Since the 1995 Chicago School Reform Amendatory Act went into effect, the president has been directly appointed by the mayor of Chicago, rather than being elected among the members of the board.^[2]

Beginning with the 2026 Chicago Board of Education elections, after which the Board of Education is slated to become an entirely-elected board, the president will be directly elected at-large by the city's voters.^[3] It will be one of four at-large citywide elected offices in Chicago (alongside the mayor of Chicago, city clerk of Chicago, and city treasurer of Chicago).

Officeholders

Chairmen of the Chicago Board of School Inspectors (1840–1857)

Until 1857, the head of the school board was known as the "chairman of the Chicago Board of School Inspectors"^[4] Written records of the board prior to 1840 are incomplete.^[5]

Name		Tenure	Notes	Citation
	William Jones	1840–1843		[5]
	J. Young Scammon	1843–1845		[5]
	William Jones	1845–1848		[5]
	E. S. Kimberly	1848		[5]
	unknown	1849		[5]
	Henry Smith	1850–1851		[5]
	William Jones	1851–1852		[5]
	Flavel Moseley	1852–1853		[5]
	William H. Brown	1853–1854		[5]
	Flavel Moseley	1854–1857		[5]

Presidents of the Chicago Board of Education (1857–1995)

Name		Tenure	Notes	Citation
	Flavel Moseley	1857–1858		[5]
	Luther Haven	1858–1860		[5]
	John Clark Dore	1860–1861		[5][4]
	John H. Foster	1861–1862		[5][4]
	Walter Loomis Newberry	1863		[5]
	Charles N. Holden	January 1, 1864–September 1, 1866		[5][6]
	George C. Clarke	1867		[5]
	Lorenzo Brentano	1868		[6][5]
	John Wentworth or S. A. Briggs	1869	Sources differ as to whether Wentworth or Briggs was board president in 1869	[6][5]
	William H. King	1869–1870		[5]
	Eben F. Runyan	1870–1872		[5]
	William H. King	1872–1874		[5]
	John H. Richberg	1874–1876		[5]
	W. K. Sullivan	1876–1878		[5]
	William H. Wells	1878–1880		[5]
	Martin Delany	1880–1882		[5]
	Norman Bridge	1882–1883		[5]
	Adolf Kraus	1883–1884		[5]
	James R. Doolittle Jr.	1884–1885		[5]
	Adolf Kraus	1885–1886		[5]
	Allan C. Story	1886–1888		[5]
	Graeme Stewart	1888–1889		[5]
	William G. Beale	1889–1890		[5]
	Louis Nettlehorst	1890–1891		[5]
	John McLaren	1891–1893		[7][8][9]
	A. S. Trude	1893–1895		[7][10]
	Daniel R. Cameron	1895–1896		[11][12]
	Edward G. Halle	1896–1898		[13][14][15]
	Graham H. Harris	1898–1902		[16][17]
	Clayton Mark	1902–1905		[18]
	Edward Tilden	1905–1906		[19][20]
	Emil W. Ritter	1906–1907		[21][22]
	Otto C. Schneider	1907–1909		[23][24]
	Alfred R. Urion	1909–1910		[25][23]
	James Burton "J. B." McFatrich	1910–1912		[25][26]
	Peter Reinberg	1912−1914		[26][27]
	Michael J. Collins	1914–1915		[28][29]
	Jacob Loeb	1915–1917		[30][31]
	Edwin S. Davis	1917–1922		[32][30]
	John Dill Robertson	1922–1923		[33][34][35][36]
	Charles Moderwell	1923–1925		[37][38]
	Edward B. Ellicott	1925–1926	Died in office	[39][40]
	Julius F. Smietanka acting	1926–1927	Served on acting basis	[41][42]
	Walter J. Raymer	1927		[42]
	J. Lewis Coath	1927–1928		[43]
	H. Wallace Caldwell	1928–1930		[44][45]
	Lewis E. Myers	1930–1933		[44][46]
	James B. McCahey	1933–1948		[47][48]
	Charles J. Whipple	1947–1948		[49][50]
	William B. Traynor	1948–1955		[51]
	Sargent Shriver	1955–1960		[52]
	Thomas L. Marshall	1960–1961		[53]
	William G. Caples	1961–1962		[54]
	Clair Roddewig	1962–1964		[55]
	Frank M. Whiston	1964–1970		[56]
	John D. Carey	1970–1979		[57][58]
	Catherine Rohter	1979–1980		[58][59][60]
	Kenneth B. Smith	1980–1981		[61][62]
	Raul Villalobos	1981–1983		[63][64]
	Sol Brandzel	1983–1984		[65][66]
	George Muñoz	1984–1987		[67][68]
	Frank Gardner	1987–1989		[69][70]
	James Compton interim	1989–1990	Served on an interim basis	[71][72]
	Clinton Bristow Jr.	1990–1992		[73][74]
	Florence Cox	1992–1993		[73][75]
	D. Sharon Gant	1993–1995		[76][77]

Chairmen of the School Reform Board of Trustees (1995–1999)

Name		Tenure	Notes	Citation
	Gery Chico	1995–1999	Appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley	[78][79][80]

Presidents of the Chicago Board of Education (1999–present)

Name		Tenure	Notes	Citation
	Gery Chico	1999–2001	Appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley	[78][80]
	Michael Scott Sr.	2001–2006	Appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley	[81][82]
	Rufus Williams	2006–2009	Appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley	[83]
	Michael Scott Sr.	2009	Appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley; died in office	[82][84]
	Mary Richardson-Lowry	2010–2011	Appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley	[85]
	David J. Vitale	2011–2015	Appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel	[86][87]
	Frank M. Clark	2016–2019	Appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel	[88][89]
	Miguel del Valle	2019–2023	Appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot	[90]
	Jianan Shi	2023–2024	Appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson	[91]
	Mitchell Johnson	2024	Appointed by Mayor Johnson, served one week before resigning over controversies	[92]
	Sean Harden	2024– present	Appointed by Mayor Johnson	[93]