The first editor-in-chief of the Britannica was Scotsman William Smellie, and the current holder of the office is Tracy Grant.
The Encyclopædia Britannica is an English-language general reference encyclopedia, published since 1768.
[1] The Britannica was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in three volumes, with printer William Smellie serving as its principal editor.
[2][3] By 1988, the encyclopedia grew to consist of 32 volumes in total,[2] but later stopped printing physical copies to focus on the online edition in 2012.
[4] As of 2024, the current editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia is Tracy Grant, who was formerly the managing editor of The Washington Post.