Thomas Ahart became Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools on March 12, 2013. He was appointed interim Superintendent on May 15, 2012 and Associate Superintendent of the school district on July 1, 2011. Prior to that, he served as principal of Harding Middle School for three years. He has also served as the Director of Human Resources for Ankeny Community Schools, Director of Instruction for Marshalltown Community Schools, and as a school improvement consultant for Heartland Area Education Agency 11. Dr. Ahart also spent eleven years as a high school teacher.

Dr. Ahart has been involved in a number of educational and professional associations, having served as president of the Iowa Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the editor of Iowa Educational Leadership, and on a number of Iowa Department of Education committees. In 2016, he served on the 20- member Regulations Negotiations committee for the U.S. Department of Education’s Every Student Succeeds Act. He is a board member of the Des Moines Area Religious Council, Des Moines Performing Arts, The Greater Des Moines Partnership, IMPACT, United Way of Central Iowa, The Wallace Centers of Iowa, and the Council of the Great City Schools, where he also serves on the Executive Committee.

Dr. Ahart received a BA in speech and mass communications from the University of Denver and holds a Master’s of Public Administration, Ed.S and Ed.D degrees from Drake University.