# Editor-in-chief of the Encyclopædia Britannica

The editor-in-chief of the Encyclopædia Britannica serves as the editorial leader of the Encyclopædia Britannica, a general reference encyclopedia published since 1768. Since 2012, the encyclopedia is published exclusively on the internet, following 244 years of physical editions. The first editor-in-chief of the Britannica was Scotsman William Smellie, and the current holder of the office is Jason Tuohey.

## Background

The Encyclopædia Britannica is an English-language general reference encyclopedia, published since 1768. The Britannica was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in three volumes, with printer William Smellie serving as its principal editor. By 1988, the encyclopedia grew to consist of 32 volumes in total, but later stopped printing physical copies to focus on the online edition in 2012. As of 2025, the current editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia is Jason Tuohey, who was formerly an editor at Yahoo News.

## Editors-in-chief

| Portrait | Name (lifespan) | Tenure during publication | Edition | Edition | Notable contribution(s) |
| | William Smellie (1740–1795) | 1768–1771 | Encyclopædia Britannica First Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica First Edition | "Abridgement" |
| | James Tytler (1745–1804) | 1776–1784 | Encyclopædia Britannica Second Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Second Edition | |
| — | Colin Macfarquhar (1745?–1793) | 1788–1793 | Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition | |
| | George Gleig (1753–1840) | 1793–1797 | Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition | |
| | James Millar (1762–1827) | 1801–1810 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourth Edition | |
| — | Thomson Bonar (1739–1814) | 1810–1812 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fifth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fifth Edition | |
| | James Millar (1762–1827) | 1812–1817 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fifth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fifth Edition | |
| | Charles Maclaren (1782–1866) | 1820–1823 | Encyclopædia Britannica Sixth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Sixth Edition | |
| | Macvey Napier (1776–1847) | 1830–1842 | Encyclopædia Britannica Seventh Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Seventh Edition | |
| | Thomas Stewart Traill (1781–1862) | 1852–1860 | Encyclopædia Britannica Eighth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Eighth Edition | |
| | Thomas Spencer Baynes (1823–1887) | 1875–1887 | Encyclopædia Britannica Ninth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Ninth Edition | "Shakespeare, William" |
| | William Robertson Smith (1846–1894) | 1881–1888 | Encyclopædia Britannica Ninth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Ninth Edition | |
| | Hugh Chisholm (1866–1924) | 1902–1903 | Encyclopædia Britannica Tenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Tenth Edition | |
| | Arthur Twining Hadley (1856–1930) | 1902–1903 | Encyclopædia Britannica Tenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Tenth Edition | |
| | Donald Mackenzie Wallace (1841–1919) | 1902–1903 | Encyclopædia Britannica Tenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Tenth Edition | "Russia" |
| | Hugh Chisholm (1866–1924) | 1910–1911 | Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition | |
| | Hugh Chisholm (1866–1924) | 1922 | Encyclopædia Britannica Twelfth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Twelfth Edition | |
| | James Louis Garvin (1868–1947) | 1926 | Encyclopædia Britannica Thirteenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Thirteenth Edition | |
| | James Louis Garvin (1868–1947) | 1929–1932 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | |
| — | Franklin Henry Hooper (1862–1940) | 1932–1938 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | |
| — | Walter Yust (1894–1960) | 1938–1960 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | |
| | Harry Scott Ashmore (1916–1998) | 1960–1963 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | |
| — | Warren Eversleigh Preece (1921–2007) | 1965–1967 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | |
| | William Haley (1901–1987) | 1968–1969 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | |
| — | Warren Eversleigh Preece (1921–2007) | 1969–1975 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition | |
| — | Warren Eversleigh Preece (1921–2007) | 1969–1975 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteenth Edition | |
| — | Philip Whitehead Goetz (1927–2008) | 1979–1991 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteenth Edition | Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteenth Edition | |
| — | Robert McHenry (born 1945) | 1992–1997 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteenth Edition | Britannica Online | |
| — | Dale Hoiberg | 1997–2015 | Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteenth Edition | Britannica Online | |
| — | Tracy Grant (born 1964) | 2022–2025 | Britannica Online | Britannica Online | |
| — | Jason Tuohey | 2025–current | Britannica Online | Britannica Online | |