Tom Shelton, Kentucky’s 2011 Superintendent of the Year, became head of Fayette County Public Schools effective Sept. 1, 2011.

Tom previously served as superintendent of Daviess County schools in Owensboro since July 2004. For six years, he was the assistant superintendent for finance and operations and three years as director of Business and Finance, also in Daviess County. 

Coming from a long line of ministers and teachers on both sides of his family, Tom followed a nontraditional route to a career in education. A certified public accountant, he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting, a master’s degree in business administration and a Rank I in educational administration from Murray State University. He has completed his Ph.D. degree in educational leadership from the University of Louisville and a graduate certificate program in executive educational leadership from Harvard University.

Tom's dissertation, “The Effects of School System Superintendents, School Boards and Their Interactions on Longitudinal Measures of Districts' Students' Mathematics Achievement," received the University of Louisville’s College of Education and Human Development Dean’s Citation and the American Education Research Association Districts in Research and Reform group’s dissertation of the year award.

His research has been presented in several U.S. conferences and at the International Congress of School Effectiveness and Reform’s 2011 conference in Limassol, Cyprus. 

Tom currently serves as a member of the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System's board of trustees, a member of the Superintendents Advisory Council for the commissioner of education, and president of the Council for Better Education. 

He also represents Kentucky as a member of the Governing Board and of the Council of County School Superintendents of the American Association of School Administrators. 

Tom and his wife, Gwen, have two daughters: Abby and Audrey.