Biography of
Susan A. Gendron
Commissioner, Maine Department of Education
Susan A. Gendron was sworn into office by Governor John E. Baldacci on March 13, 2003. She hails from Tewksbury, Massachusetts, where she attended the public schools before heading to Gorham, Maine and the University of Southern Maine, graduating in 1973.
Commissioner Gendron’s career in education spans 35 years, serving as kindergarten teacher, primary school principal, high school principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent of schools in Windham, Maine, for many years. She has encouraged the expansion of public preschool programs in Maine and focused on working with school systems to move to a learner-centered system of standards-based education. She has worked with stakeholder groups to develop recommendations for a 21st century diploma. And as an early advocate of graduating all students read for college, career and citizenship, she led Maine to become the first – and still only – state to use the SAT test as the state’s 11th grade assessment, part of her efforts to create a culture of higher aspirations and encourage post-secondary education for all students. She also has worked to implement the reorganization of Maine’s school systems into fewer units, the largest education restructuring in the state in 50 years.
During her tenure, Maine has joined with three other states to administer a common assessment for reading and mathematics. Commissioner Gendron expanded Maine’s laptop program, which has provided notebook computers to all Maine middle school students since 2002 – making Maine the first and only state with a statewide 1:1 computing program, making laptops a possibility for every student in grades 7-12. The high school expansion, announced in June 2009, marks the world's largest educational technology program of its kind, once again putting Maine at the leading edge in using technology to support education.
Commissioner Gendron has been a member of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Board since 2006 and is currently President of the national organization. She has held several leadership positions with CCSSO, including board liaison for the Education Information Management Advisory Consortium (EIMAC) and member of the Presidential Transition Task Force. She also serves as Chair of the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) Board, trustee of the University of Maine System, and serves on numerous other boards and commissions at the local, state, and national levels.
Gendron has received many honors, including the Maine School Superintendents’ Distinguished Educator Award, 2001; the Maine Superintendent of the Year Award, 2002; the Maine Education Association – Friend of Education Award, 2005; the University of Southern Maine Distinguished Alumni Award, 2006; and the State Education Technology Directors Association – Pushing the Envelope Award, 2008.
She enjoys gardening, quilting, cross country skiing, and boating. Commissioner Gendron and her husband, Mark, reside in Raymond, Maine on Raymond Pond in the Lakes Region. They have two grown children, Stacey and Matthew and two grandsons, Joshua and Lonnie.
July, 2009
Citizen ALERT System 
