Board of Visitors Biographies
Barbara Williams Thompson
Superintendent of Schools
New Glarus School District
(New Glarus)
Barbara Thompson's 2003 appointment as Superintendent of the New Glarus School District in southwest Wisconsin represents the culmination of her 30 years of educational work in Wisconsin, which includes more than 20 years with the Madison Public School System. Her innovative work with alternative programs and innovative multicultural curriculum has earned her community recognition and praise.
Thompson has held positions as program coordinator with the Manpower Project (UW-Oshkosh), detention/jail teacher with Dane County Detention, technical college instructor with Madison Area Technical Colleges, teacher of emotionally disabled/learning disabled (ED/LD) students, and school principal at Marquette and Lapham Elementary Schools in Madison. She has also managed a $500,000 Family Literacy Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Among her various community contributions, Thompson has served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Club of America, Madison Urban League, Governor's Committee for People with Disabilities, UW-Madison Committee on University and School Partnerships (CUSP), and Independent Living. She has also been a foster parent for nearly a decade through the Treatment Foster Home.
Thompson holds a bachelor's degree (cum laude) in psychology from Spelman College, a master's degree in behavioral and learning disabilities from UW-Oshkosh, and is working on her doctorate in educational administration from UW-Madison. She was also the recipient of a Fulbright International Program Fellowship in Kanazawa, Japan in 1998.