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 J.E. Luebering.

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 +PortraitName (lifespan)Tenure during publicationEditionNotable contribution(s)Ref. (1740–1795)17681771Encyclopædia Britannica First Edition (1745–1804)1776–1784Encyclopædia Britannica Second Edition (1745?–1793) 1788–1793Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition (1753–1840)1793–1797 (1762–1827)1801–1810Encyclopædia Britannica Fourth EditionThomson Bonar (1739–1814)1810–1812Encyclopædia Britannica Fifth Edition (1762–1827)1812–1817 (1782–1866)1820–1823Encyclopædia Britannica Sixth Edition (1776–1847)1830–1842Encyclopædia Britannica Seventh Edition (1781–1862)1852–1860Encyclopædia Britannica Eighth Edition (1823–1887)1875–1887Encyclopædia Britannica Ninth Edition (1846–1894)1881–1888 (1866–1924)1902–1903Encyclopædia Britannica Tenth Edition (1856–1930) (1841–1919) (1866–1924)1910–1911Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition1922Encyclopædia Britannica Twelfth Edition (1868–1947)1926Encyclopædia Britannica Thirteenth Edition1929–1932Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition (1862–1940)1932–1938 (1894–1960)1938–1960 (1916–1998)1960–1963 (1921–2007)1965–1967 (1901–1987)1968–1969 (1921–2007)1969–1975Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteenth Edition (1927–2008)1979–1991 (born 1945)1992–1997Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteenth EditionBritannica Online1997–2015 (born 1964)2022–2025Britannica Online2025–current

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Notable contributions by editors-in-chief of the Encyclopædia Britannica