Ellen M. Bard (January 11, 1949 – October 28, 2009) was an American politician serving as a Republican member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

. Bard was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. She graduated from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

in 1971. She also earned a

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

degree from the

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

School of Public Communication in 1972 and another

from the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (branded as MIT Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree progra ...

in 1980. Bard was also a

Marshall Scholar The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is considered among the most prestigious scholarshi ...

. She was elected to represent Ward 7 on the Abington Township Board of Commissioners in 1990. In 1994, after one term as a Township Commissioner, she was elected to represent the 153rd legislative district in the

. During her tenure there, she has had 17 bills signed into law. During her legislative career, she was known for advocating on behalf of the

Abington School District Abington School District is a medium-sized, suburban, public school district that serves the borough of Rockledge and Abington Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The district operates one high school, one middle school, and seven e ...

and for her work on energy and environmental issues, including her service as Chair of the Task Force on a 21st Century Energy Policy for Pennsylvania. She left her PA House seat to run for

Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district The 13th congressional district of Pennsylvania is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The district contains all of Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, and Perry counties. ...

, losing the Republican primary to Melissa Brown, who went on to lose to

Allyson Schwartz Allyson Schwartz (née Young; born October 3, 1948) is an American Democratic Party politician who represented parts of Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2015 and Northeast an ...

. In May 2009, after her diagnosis with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

, she and her husband moved from Jenkintown to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

to be near their daughter. She died in October 2009.

References

External links

* official PA House profile (archived) * - official Party website (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bard, Ellen 1949 births 2009 deaths Politicians from Minneapolis Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Women state legislators in Pennsylvania MIT Sloan School of Management alumni Boston University College of Communication alumni Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California Pomona College alumni 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 21st-century American women politicians