Barb Yarusso (born 1956) is a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

politician and former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the Min ...

. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Repr ...

, she represented District 42A, which included portions of

Ramsey County, Minnesota Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 552,352, making it the second-most populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat and largest city is Saint Paul, the state capital ...

in the north-central

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

metropolitan area.

Early life, education, and career

Yarusso grew up primarily in

Columbia Heights, Minnesota Columbia Heights is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 19,496 at the 2010 census. Minnesota State Highways 47 ( University Avenue) and 65 (Central Avenue) are two of the main routes in the city. Columbia ...

, and graduated from Columbia Heights High School. She earned a Bachelor of

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...

from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and Ph.D. in the same field from

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

. After college, she worked in the lab as an engineer for

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company ori ...

and as an industrial trainer and self-employed engineering consultant for HB Fuller, 3M, and Ecolab, as well as teaching at the University of St. Thomas in

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, Hill-Murray School, the

, and as a freelance tutor.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Yarusso was first elected to the

in 2012 to an open seat created by post-census redistricting. She lost re-election to Republican Randy Jessup in 2016.

Electoral history

References

External links

Project Votesmart - Rep. Barb Yarusso Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarusso, Barb 1956 births Living people Politicians from Duluth, Minnesota People from Shoreview, Minnesota Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Women state legislators in Minnesota University of Minnesota faculty University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Engineering alumni 21st-century American women politicians People from Columbia Heights, Minnesota American women academics 21st-century American politicians