Ryan Wise Named New Head of Iowa Department of Education

Last week Gov. Terry Branstad named Iowa Department of Education Deputy Director Ryan Wise as the new director of the department. Wise, 39, took over the position on July 1, as Brad Buck transitions to superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District. 

Wise has served as deputy director at the Iowa Department of Education since September 2013. He has led the implementation of Iowa’s Teacher Leadership and Compensation System (TLC), including designing and executing the application and selection process, facilitating multiple statewide coordination teams, creating a principal support system and leading Iowa’s Commission on Educator Leadership and Compensation. In addition, Wise has served as the liaison between the Department and the Iowa State Board of Education and has been the representative on the Iowa High School Athletic Association board of control and on the Governor’s Council for National Service. He is also the administrator for the Department’s Division of Policy and Communications. 

Wise earned his undergraduate degree from Creighton University. He earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 2008. He earned a doctorate of education leadership from Harvard University in 2013. 

Wise has made improving education his mission for his entire career. He was managing director for growth strategy and development for Teach for All from 2008-2010. He was the executive director of Teach for America in South Dakota from 2003-2008, where, among other achievements, he worked with both public and Bureau of Indian Affairs grant schools on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations to improve educational opportunities. He spent the first five years of his career as a history teacher at Omaha Central High School in Omaha, Neb., and Rosa Fort High School in Tunica, Miss.