Janis Hochadel known as Jan Hochadel (; née Bibby; born January 21, 1964) is an American engineer, educator and politician. She currently serves as a member of the

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

representing

District 13 ''District B13'' ( French title ''Banlieue 13'' or ''B13''), is a 2004 French action film directed by Pierre Morel, produced by Luc Besson, and written by Besson and Bibi Naceri. It depicts parkour in several action sequences, which was complet ...

, which encompasses Meriden,

Middlefield Middlefield may refer to: Canada * Middlefield, Nova Scotia * Middlefield Collegiate Institute, a high school in the area * Middlefield Road, a street in Toronto * a community in Markham, Ontario England * Middlefield, Stapleford, a mansion in ...

and parts of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

and Middletown. She assumed office on January 4, 2023. She won election following the resignation of Mary Daugherty Abrams at the end of 2022. She is the former president and incumbent vice president of the American Federation of Teachers Connecticut (AFT).

Early life and education

Hochadel was born Janis Bibby on January 21, 1964, in

North Attleborough, Massachusetts North Attleborough, alternatively spelled North Attleboro, is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 30,834 at the 2020 United States Census. The villages of Attleboro Falls and ...

to Richard and Judith (née Freeman) Bibby. Her father was a highway maintenance engineer for the

Massachusetts Department of Transportation The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the US state of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1, 2009, by the 186th Sessio ...

, while his wife was a homemaker. She had one elder sister, Cheryl Lynn Reinbold (1962-2023) and a brother Mark Bibby. She graduated from

North Attleborough High School North Attleborough High School is a public high school in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, United States, educating grades 9 through 12 with over one thousand students enrolled. History North Attleborough High School was located in the curren ...

and then completed a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the

University of New Haven The University of New Haven (UNH) is a private university in West Haven, Connecticut, United States. History The University of New Haven was founded in 1920 as the New Haven YMCA Junior College, a division of Northeastern University, which sha ...

. She also holds a

Masters of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

from

Sacred Heart University Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Roman Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1963 by Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholi ...

in Fairfield.

Career

She started her career after graduation at

Omega Engineering OMEGA Engineering is an American instrumentation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut,https://www.concord-sots.ct.gov/CONCORD/online?sn=PublicInquiry&eid=9740 with its main factory in Swedesboro, New Jersey. It has sales offices in th ...

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

and

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

in Wallingford and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. After her career in engineering she opted to teach

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

at technical high schools in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. In 2015, she became the president of the Connecticut chapter of the

American Federation of Teachers The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders. About 60 pe ...

Politics

Hochadel was elected into

in the 2022 Connecticut primary election on November 8, 2022, defeating Republican candidate Joseph Vollano. She assumed office on January 4, 2022. She currently is a deputy majority leader and Chair of the Aging commission as well as vice chair of the Environment commission. Hochadel is also a member of the Banking, Commerce, Housing as well as Planning & Development commissions.

Personal life

Hochadel is divorced and has three children. She resides in

Meriden, Connecticut Meriden ( ) is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is part of the South Central Connecticut Planni ...

.United States Public Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hochadel, Jan 1964 births Connecticut state senators Living people 21st-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly