Stephen Pruitt took office as the sixth president of the Southern Regional Education Board in July 2018. During his career, Pruitt built education policy, assessment and instructional background at the local, state and national levels. He started his education career as a high school chemistry teacher in Fayette County, Georgia, and then served in several leadership roles at the Georgia Department of Education. As senior vice president for Achieve, he worked closely with state agencies and educators around the country to improve science education. Before coming to SREB, he was Kentucky’s state commissioner of education.