New Hampshire Leadership Team
Richard E. Ashooh
Mr. Ashooh is a member of the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees and Vice President of Strategic Relations and Homeland Security for the Information and Electronic Systems Integration Sector of BAE SYSTEMS. Mr. Ashooh served on the staff of former U.S. Senator Warren Rudman (R-NH) as a professional staff member for six years on the U.S. Senate Committee on Government Affairs. He is Chairman of the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium Commission, a member of the Board of Directors of the Business and Industry Association, Catholic Medical Center, and New Hampshire Political Library.
Fred Bramante
Mr. Bramante is the former chairman of the New Hampshire State Board of Education and is currently a member of the board. He is a former Republican candidate for Governor. He is the founder and CEO of the Daddy’s Junky Music Store chain, the 16th largest of 8500 music retailers in America. Bramante is a former middle school science teacher and the recipient of the 1995 Keene State College Alumni Achievement Award.
Thomas J. Brennan
Dr. Brennan is Superintendent of the Kearsarge Regional School District.
Barry Brensinger
Mr. Brensinger serves as CEO of Lavallee/Brensinger Professional Association, a multi-disciplinary building design and project management firm located in Manchester.
He is the chairman of the board of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
Claire Clarke
Representative Clark serves on the House Education Committee. She is a former guidance counselor and served on the board of the Merrimack Valley School District for 15 years.
Leo Corriveau
Mr. Corriveau served as a school district superintendent for 17 years, most recently as the superintendent of the Hillsboro-Deering school district (SAU 34). He currently serves as director of teacher accreditation, assessment and clinical experiences at Plymouth State University. He is co-editor of The New Hampshire Journal of Education.
Fr. Jonathan DeFelice
Father Jonathan DeFelice is President of Saint Anselm College. He is Chairman of the Board of Campus Compact which is a statewide consortium of college and university presidents and private sector partners who are united in their commitment to the civic purposes of higher education. He has served on the board of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, as a division chair for United Way, and is currently a founding member of the Board of Governors of the New Hampshire Forum on Higher Education and a member of the New England Council. His is also a member and former chair of the New Hampshire Postsecondary Education Commission and the New Hampshire College and University Council.
Iris Estabrook
Senator Estabrook was first elected to the State Senate in 2002, after serving three terms in the New Hampshire House. She is the Vice President for Policy and chairs the Education Committee and the Health and Human Services Committee. The senator is a former schoolteacher and past director of the University of New Hampshire Child Care Resource and Referral Agency. She is also a past member of the Oyster River School Board. Estabrook is a graduate of Cornell University and earned a Master of Science degree in teaching from the University of Chicago.
Frank Guinta
The Mayor of Manchester, Frank Guinta has also served in the New Hampshire House and as a Manchester alderman. As Mayor, he serves as chair of the Manchester School Board. He has served on several boards and commissions including Manchester Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc., Intown Manchester, Inc., SEE Science Center, Hands Across the Merrimack, Inc. and A Way To A Better Living, Inc.
Mary Heath
Ms. Heath is Deputy Commissioner for the New Hampshire Department of Education. Ms. Heath began teaching in 1970 as an elementary teacher in Manchester and has served as an Assistant Superintendent of Schools. She currently serves as a Trustee for the Manchester City Library and serves on the Advisory Board for the Greater Manchester Mental Health Center. In addition, she is an Executive Board Member for the NH ‘ED’ies and holds membership with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, NHASCD, and the National Staff Development Council.
David Hess
Representative Hess is currently the Deputy Republican Leader in the NH House of Representatives and was the Majority Leader from 2002-2005. He serves on the House Education Committee. He is the Town Moderator of Hooksett, a position he has held since 1989. Representative Hess was an Asst. NH Attorney General from 1972-1975 and served as a Judge Advocate and Military Judge in the US Air Force from 1968-1972.
Dean Kamen
Mr. Kamen is an inventor, entrepreneur and tireless advocate for the teaching of science and technology. As an inventor, he holds more than 150 U.S. and foreign patents, many of them for innovative medical devices that have expanded the frontiers of healthcare worldwide. While still a college undergraduate, he invented the first wearable infusion pump, which rapidly gained acceptance from such diverse medical specialties as chemotherapy, neonatology and endocrinology. A decade ago Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which inspire students to enter the engineering and technology fields. The organization is the foundation for the FIRST Robotics Competition, the FIRST LEGO League, and the FIRST Vex Challenge competition.
FIRST also operates FIRST Place, a research facility at FIRST Headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire where it holds educational programs and day camps for students and teachers.
Carolyn Kelly
Ms. Kelley was named New Hampshire Teacher of the Year for 2007. She has been teaching for nine years, the past five years at the Seacoast School of Technology. She was instrumental in designing the biotechnology program at the school. Under her leadership the biotechnology program has been inspirational to students across the region. Biotechnology has attracted students at all academic levels who want to pursue a career in the sciences. Ms. Kelly has the ability to reach each of these students and she does not allow any of them to fall behind.
Kathleen McCabe
Ms. McCabe is currently the Assistant Superintendent of Schools for the Governor Wentworth Regional School District (SAU 49) and has been an educator in New Hampshire since 1969. Her first classroom teaching experience was as a kindergarten teacher in Franklin, and taught for 20 years in Laconia, capping her career there as the Director of Project G.A.T.E.way, a city-wide gifted education program.
Barbara Moseley
Ms. Moseley is President of The New Hampshire PTA. She served on the on Hooksett School Board for nine years and on the board of the NH School Boards Association for five years. She is a member of Commissioner of the Department of Education’s Advisory Council.
Charles Ott
Prior to becoming Superintendent of the Somersworth and Rollinsford School Districts, Dr. Ott had a variety of educational experiences, including: service as a volunteer in the Peace Corps, an early childhood educator, a school guidance counselor, a school psychologist, and an assistant superintendent. He was named the New Hampshire Superintendent of the Year in 2005.
Walter R. Peterson
The governor of New Hampshire from 1969 to 1973, Governor Peterson is a member of the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees. He is a past president of Franklin Pierce College and past interim president of the University of New Hampshire. Governor Peterson was Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1965 to 1999. He is currently a member of the New England Board of Higher Education.
Tom Rath
Mr. Rath is the former Attorney General of New Hampshire. Mr. Rath has served as chairman and a member of the Board of Trustees of Daniel Webster College, a member of the Board of Visitors of the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences at Dartmouth College, a member of the Dartmouth Medical School Board of Overseers and a member of the Dartmouth College Committee on Trustees. He was appointed by President George H. W. Bush to be a director of the Legal Services Corporation. He is currently a member of the board of the New Hampshire Political Library and is the chairman of the board of the New England Council Board of Directors.
Stephen J. Reno
Dr. Reno is the Chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire. He was Associate provost, University of Southern Maine, 1982-89; Provost and Dean of Faculty, Southern Oregon University, 1989-94; and President, Southern Oregon University, 1994-2000. He is an ex-officio member of the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees and is a member of the board of the New England Board of Higher Education.
Emma Rous
Representative Rous is chair of the House Education Committee and member of the Joint Legislative Task Force on Adequacy. A three-term member of the New Hampshire House, Rep. Rous is a former high school English teacher.
Jeanne Shaheen
Governor Shaheen was the first woman elected governor of New Hampshire. During her six years as Governor, she enacted legislation expanding public kindergarten in New Hampshire and increased the state’s investment in local public schools, job training, the University System and Community Technical Colleges, including the State’s largest investment ever in capital improvements for the University System. Her leadership on strengthening education was recognized nationally when she was chosen to serve as Chair of the Education Commission of the States in 2000 and 2001. She served three terms in the State Senate. Governor Shaheen is a former high school teacher. She is now the director of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. She is currently on the Board of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.
Kathy Staub
Kathy Schofield Staub serves as Secretary of the PTO at the Hillside Middle School in Manchester where her son is in the eighth grade. She edits the parent newsletter, and is a member of the PBIS Universal Team. In 2000 Staub was one of 10 parent leaders who founded the Manchester Coalition for Quality Education to advocate for better schools. Since that time the organization has advocated for improving school facilities, conducted a district-wide parent involvement survey, and worked to engage families from the minority and refugee communities. Staub has served as the President of MCQE since its inception. She is also a member of the Manchester School District Improvement Monitoring Committee.
Ken Wiswell
Mr. Wiswell serves as President for the New Hampshire Association of School Principals and is the principal of Gilford High School.
Kristin Woolever
Ms. Woolever serves as Dean of the University of New Hampshire, Manchester. She has more than 25 years of experience in higher education as a scholar and administrator. Prior to becoming Dean, she served as Director of the Antioch Center for Creative Change at Antioch University Seattle where she led a reorganization that included the development of alternative course delivery models resulting in increased enrollments and service to students.. She has served as a senior fellow at the New England Board of Higher Education and directed the Communicating Science and Technology Project and she co-founded and directed Northeastern’s Graduate Technical and Professional Writing Programs.