Barbara Rutt was appointed to the State Board of Education in 2005 by Governor Ruth Ann Minner.
Barbara received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Washington & Jefferson College in 1978. She was later appointed to serve a term on the board of trustees of her alma mater. She also holds a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law, awarded in 1981. Before moving to Delaware in 1988, she practiced law in western Pennsylvania, first as a consultant with Touche, Ross & Company and later in private practice. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware.
Barbara Rutt served two terms on the Milford School District Board of Education, from 1991 to 2001, holding the offices of president and vice-president. She represented the Milford Board on the Legislative Committee of the Delaware School Boards Association. As a participant in the Delaware Leadership Academy, she worked with a committee to strengthen board/superintendent relations. Mrs. Rutt has also been a member of the Delaware Department of Education Licensure and Certification Committee, reporting to the Delaware Professional Standards Board.
Currently, Barbara serves as the Chairperson of the Board of Bayhealth Medical Center and represents Avenue United Methodist Church as a lay delegate to the Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conference. Barbara is the State Board delegate to the Delaware School Boards Association and has been appointed to the Regional Advisory Board of the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center at the George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education.
Barbara and her husband, David N. Rutt, live in Milford and have one son, Andrew.