The superintendents of Penn-Harris-Madison, to the current holder

THE SUCCESSION AS OF NOVEMBER 11, 2026 · THE FIRST HOLDER, 1963–1971, A NAMED GAP

The corporation's chiefs, in order, as far as the record names them. The first superintendent — the officer who ran the district from its 1962–63 formation to 1971 — was not named in any source reached; the gap is GAP-OSSCH-4, and its likeliest settlers are named with it: the Ball State study of April 22, 1964, The Future of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, located but not mined for this section, and the corporation's own board records. The named line begins with Dr. A. Dean Speicher, who led the corporation for twenty-one years, 1971 to 1992, growing it from just over 3,000 students to over 9,000; the corporation's Educational Services Center at 55900 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, was renamed the Dr. A. Dean Speicher Educational Services Center in October 2025 in his honor. Dr. Robert MacNaughton follows: he is in office by October 1996, when an ERIC study volume names him "superintendent of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation," and he left in 1998 for the Ramapo Central School District in New York; his exact starting date at P-H-M was not found, and the inference that he began in 1992, where Speicher ends, is not asserted. Dr. Vickie Markavitch — the federal courts spell her "Vickie," the newspapers usually "Vicki," and both print — came in 1998 from Niles Township and headed the corporation for about five years; she is the named superintendent in Joy v. Penn-Harris-Madison, 212 F.3d 1052 (7th Cir. 2000), the case over a policy instituted in 1998, and by 2004 the Tribune had her a finalist for larger districts and continuing her search. Dr. Robert T. Howard followed; the State Board of Accounts' audit schedule gives his term as July 1, 2005 to April 9, 2006, while the Tribune's 2005 profile describes a "mid-year start" and a first year of visiting the district's fifteen schools — the variance prints whole — and Timothy F. Hyland served as interim superintendent from April 10 to June 30, 2006, on the audit's schedule. Dr. Jerry Thacker took office July 1, 2006, coming from the Logansport superintendency (1998–2006), and served nineteen years; he announced his retirement in March 2025, effective that July. The board, in a special meeting on May 27, 2025, voted unanimously, 7-0, to appoint Dr. Heather Short — the district's assistant superintendent for instruction since 2017, principal of Prairie Vista Elementary in 2004, a thirty-one-year P-H-M educator — as superintendent effective July 1, 2025. She holds the office as of November 11, 2026, and is printed so.

Sources:

1. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation (October 6, 2025): the Educational Services Center renamed for Dr. A. Dean Speicher, superintendent 1971–1992.
2. ERIC, Making a World of Difference: Elementary Schools (ED417579, 1997): Dr. Robert MacNaughton named P-H-M superintendent, site visits October 11, 1996; Tech & Learning speaker biography: MacNaughton at Ramapo Central "since 1998," previously of Penn-Harris Madison.
3. Joy v. Penn-Harris-Madison, 212 F.3d 1052 (7th Cir. 2000); South Bend Tribune coverage of March 29, 2003, and 2004 (via the Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library archive): Dr. Markavitch's tenure and her 2004 search.
4. Indiana State Board of Accounts, Audit Report of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2007, Schedule of Officials: Howard 07-01-05 to 04-09-06; Hyland 04-10-06 to 06-30-06; Thacker from 07-01-06; South Bend Tribune (2005): Howard's "mid-year start," printed in conflict.
5. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation (March 20, 2025; May 27, 2025): Thacker's retirement after nineteen years; Short's unanimous appointment effective July 1, 2025; the corporation's Leadership Contacts page, crawled November 11, 2026: Short as current superintendent.