Steve Murley served as Superintendent of Schools for the Green Bay Area Public Schools from 2020 through 2022, the Iowa City Community School District from 2010 through 2020, and the Wausau School District from 2005 through 2010. He has also served as a teacher, coach, athletic department administrator, building administrator, and director of human resources and employee relations. Each of the three districts he served as superintendent of schools represented metropolitan communities including schools with urban, suburban, and rural profiles. The students in these districts brought an enormous range of diversity to the classrooms including issues related to poverty, navigating life as black/ indigenous/ students of color, adjusting to life in the United States, learning English as a second language, and meeting their unique needs in special education programs.

Steve has a deep and abiding commitment to public education and developing the next generation of leaders who will serve our students. He was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the College of Education in the Educational Policy and Leadership Studies Department at the University of Iowa in 2022. Steve has been active as a graduate school adjunct faculty member since 2001 having taught at the University of Iowa in the Educational Policy and Leadership Studies Department, the University of Wisconsin – Superior in the Educational Administration Department, Marian University in the Educational Leadership Department, and the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh in both the Department of Human Services and Professional Leadership and the Department of Educational Foundations.

Recognizing the need for early- and mid-career coaching, mentoring, and support for superintendents, district-level leaders, and school leaders, Steve has worked to provide the scaffolded assistance these leaders need to succeed for over a decade. Beginning in 2013 he has served as the lead instructor for the American Association of School Administrators National Superintendent Certification Program – Midwest Cohort. More recently Steve has begun coaching and mentoring through AASA’s Learning 2025 Learning-Centered Future-Driven Education initiative working with national-level demonstration districts to advance their work individually and collectively. From 2020-24 he served as the lead instructor for the American Association of School Administrators National Superintendent Certification Program – Minnesota. Steve also worked in the Chicago Public Schools from 2012 through 2015 providing support to Network Chiefs and their leadership teams at the distinct level and school leaders at the building level.

As a Superintendent of Schools Steve has been active in professional organizations at the national level including the Alliance for Education Impact, the American Association of School Administrators, the American Association of Community Colleges Commission on College Readiness, the District Administration Leadership Institute, the District Management Group, the Education Advisory Board, the Futures 21 Council, the Horace Mann League, the Institute for Education Innovation, New Era Superintendents, the National Superintendents Dialog, the National Superintendents Roundtable, the Superintendents Environmental Education Collaborative, the United States Department of Education Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools, and the Urban Superintendents Association of America.

Steve earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan with a triple major in Economics, History, and Communications. He has also completed a Master of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin in Educational Administration and an Education Specialist degree from the University of Wisconsin in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.