Stephen L. Pruitt has announced his departure as president of the Southern Regional Education Board effective June 22.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges today announced that it has selected Pruitt as the next president of SACSCOC.

SREB’s Executive Committee will name an interim president and announce a search for a new president in the coming weeks. 

Pruitt joined the Southern Regional Education Board as its the sixth president in July 2018. During his tenure, SREB strengthened its focus on education for workforce readiness, including the Commission on Strategic Partnerships for Work-Ready Students and the current Commission on Career Pathways and Credentials. In recent years, he focused SREB’s efforts on five priority topics: AI in education, longitudinal literacy, career pathways, educator workforce and postsecondary student success.

Last year, he spearheaded the launch of SREB’s Commission on AI in Education and Crisis Recovery Network.

“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to be president of SREB, and the work we’ve done together in the past seven years will continue,” Pruitt said.

The Southern Regional Education Board works with states and schools to improve education at every level, from early childhood through doctoral education and the workforce. An interstate compact and a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB states are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.