James H. Sauter obtained his B.A. degree in biology from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. He received his M.S. degree in Education from the College of St. Thomas, an Ed. Specialist degree from Mankato State University, and a Ph. D. in educational administration with a minor in curriculum and instruction at the University of Wisconsin- Madison.

Dr. Sauter is currently the principal at Chippewa Falls Senior High School in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where he has served in that capacity since 1996. Prior to that, he served as an administrator in the Eau Claire School District for nine years. He also has eleven years of additional experience as an administrator and teacher in Minnesota. 

He is the 1987 recipient of the Southeastern Assistant Principal of the Year from the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals and is a 2008 nominee for Principal of the Year in Wisconsin.

Dr. Sauter also serves as an ad-hoc professor at the University of Wisconsin- Superior and Silver Lake College. He has taught graduate level courses in Using Standards in Teacher Evaluation, the Principalship, and the Externship for school administrators