Tom Burnham, who led Mississippi’s public school system for five years in the mid-1990s, has been chosen to return to the position. The state board of education announced its decision Nov. 3. Mr. Burnham, 63, will succeed Hank Bounds, who resigned in June to become the state’s higher education commissioner. Mr. Burnham is now the dean of the school of education at the University of Mississippi. He will assume his new duties by the end of the year, said Pete Smith, a spokesman for the state department of education.
A version of this article appeared in the November 11, 2009 edition of Education Week as Miss. Schools Chief Selected
