Ann Wynia (née Jobe, born September 29, 1943) is an American politician who served in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

from 1977 to 1989. A member of the

Democratic Farmer-Labor Party Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, Wynia represented portions of the city of

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

and served as Majority Leader from 1987 to 1989. In 1989 Governor

Rudy Perpich Rudolph George Perpich Sr. (born Rudolph George Prpić; June 27, 1928 September 21, 1995) was an American politician who served as the governor of Minnesota from 1976 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor ...

appointed her Commissioner o
Minnesota's Department of Human Services
until 1990. She was the Democratic Party's nominee for

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in the 1994 election. After a defeat by U.S. Congressman

Rod Grams Rodney Dwight Grams (February 4, 1948 – October 8, 2013) was an American politician and television news anchor who served in both the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. A local news anchor, Grams became well known f ...

, Wynia served as the President of North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota from 1997 until her retirement in 2010.

Biography

Early life and education

Wynia was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, and attended Arlington High School. She earned her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

from the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...

, and her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1968.

Career outside politics

Prior to entering public office, Wynia was a full-time lecturer at North Hennepin Community College from 1970 to 1977. She served as a

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and founded the Block Nurse Program, which provides in-home care for senior citizens (now merged with the Elderberry Institute). She also served on the board of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, the

Bush Foundation The Bush Foundation is a charitable organization in the United States. It invests in programs in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share this geography. They work through open grantmaking programs to support e ...

and Health Partners. She was president of North Hennepin Community College until July 2010. John O'Brien, a former administrator at

Century College Century College is a public community college in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. It is a member of the Minnesota State system. It was founded in 1967 as Lakewood State Junior College and in 1996 merged with Northeast Metro Technical College to bec ...

, is the current president. In 1996, Wynia was elected to the

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Lyndon ...

National Governing Board.

Political career

Wynia represented Minnesota's 62A House district from 1977 to 1982 and the redistricted 63B House district from 1983 to 1989. She was the majority leader from 1987 to 1989. She subsequently became commissioner of Minnesota's Department of Human Services, and was the Democratic Party's nominee for the 1994 U.S. Senate election.

Awards and distinctions

* 1995 – Distinguished Alumna, University of Texas at Arlington

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynia, Ann 1943 births Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Living people Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives University of Texas at Arlington alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Women state legislators in Minnesota Women heads of universities and colleges 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American academics 21st-century American academics 21st-century American women academics 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature