Mark Roosevelt (born December 10, 1955) is an American academic administrator and politician who served as the seventh president of the Santa Fe campus of St. John's College. He was the President of

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

from January 2011 to December 2015 and superintendent of the

Pittsburgh Public Schools Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district serving the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and adjacent Mount Oliver, Pennsylvania. As of the 2021–2022 school year, the district operates 54 schools with 4,192 employees (2,070 teach ...

, the second largest school district in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, until December 31, 2010. He served as a state

legislator A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nat ...

in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

and was the Democratic nominee for governor in the 1994 Massachusetts gubernatorial election. Roosevelt is the great-grandson of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

, and the son of CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt Jr.

Early life and education

Roosevelt was born and raised in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and attended St. Albans School. Roosevelt is the great-grandson of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

and the son of Mary Lowe "Polly" (née Gaddis) and Kermit Roosevelt Jr., who was one of the key figures behind the controversial coup engineered by the CIA that overthrew Iranian Prime Minister

Mohammad Mossadegh Mohammad Mosaddegh (, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 30th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, elected by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of the Iranian parliament from ...

in 1953. He was related to his 1994 Massachusetts gubernatorial opponent

William Weld William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

through Weld's wife at that time, Susan Roosevelt Weld, the daughter of Quentin Roosevelt II; Susan is Mark's second cousin. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

Career

Political career

In 1977, Roosevelt served as campaign manager for John D. O'Bryant, the first black man elected to the Boston School Committee. Roosevelt served in the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

from 1986 to 1994. In 1990, he was appointed Chairman of the legislature's Education Committee, where he was the co-author and chief sponsor of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993. He also was chief sponsor of a gay rights bill that had been introduced annually since 1972 but did not pass until 1989. The bill's passage made Massachusetts the second state, after Wisconsin, to pass legislation protecting gay rights. In

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, Roosevelt was the Democratic nominee for

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...

and lost the general election to the Republican incumbent,

. Roosevelt and Weld were second cousins by marriage, as Weld's first wife, Susan Roosevelt Weld, is also a great-grandchild of President

. Following his bid for office, Roosevelt served as CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, Managing Director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, and as a Professor of Politics and head of the Gordon Public Policy Center at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

Pittsburgh Public Schools

A graduate of the 2003 Broad Superintendents Academy, Roosevelt was appointed on August 3, 2005, to the position of Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) superintendent. He accepted this post under the terms of a performance-based "accountability contract." While in Pittsburgh, he implemented measures intended to ease the district's financial problems and improve academic standards. The plan included the closing of underutilized and under-performing schools, opening of accelerated learning academies with a vigorous academic curriculum and longer school hours, the moving of several programs, and an increase in the number of childhood education programs, K-8 schools and 6-12 schools. Under his leadership, PPS met federal achievement standards (AYP) for the first time, received a $40-million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation focused on improving teacher effectiveness, opened several innovative new schools, adopted a more rigorous curriculum, and inaugurated a nationally recognized program to recruit, train and support school principals as instructional leaders. In October 2010 he became a finalist for the position of President of

. On October 6, 2010, he held a press conference to announce his resignation as superintendent of

effective December 31, 2010. It was reported that he was the only finalist for the Presidency of

in Ohio.

Antioch College

Roosevelt served as president of

from 2011 to 2015. Hired to reestablish the college, which had closed, Roosevelt helped to recruit faculty and students, began a renovation of the campus; and reestablished Antioch's cooperative education program. He also led a process that resulted in "fast-track" accreditation consideration for Antioch from the Higher Learning Commission. The college won accreditation in July 2016. He negotiated an agreement between the College and

Antioch University Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. It is the continuation of Antioch College, which was founded in 1852. Antioch College's first president was politician, abolitionist, and ...

that eliminated any future claims of the university to Antioch College's campus or endowment. On May 5, 2015, Roosevelt announced his departure from Antioch by the end of the year. Dr. Thomas Manley was hired as his successor, to begin in March 2016.

St. John's College

Mark Roosevelt was the seventh president of the Santa Fe campus of St. John's College, which also has a campus in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, replacing Michael P. Peters. He took office on January 1, 2016. In June of that year, the St. John's Board of Visitors and Governors voted to make Roosevelt the college-wide president as of July 1, 2016. During his tenure as president of St. John's College, Roosevelt was allegedly involved in a union-busting campaign against student workers.

Other work

Roosevelt has also taught graduate level courses on the intersection of American history and public policy at

and the Heinz Graduate School of Public Policy at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

Family

He is married to Dorothy, the former project lead of Antioch College's Wellness Center, which opened to the public on September 6, 2014.New Wellness Center
/ref> Prior to Antioch College, Dorothy worked at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and as a yoga instructor. They married in January 2005 and have a daughter, Juliana. Mark Roosevelt also has an adopted son, Matthew, born in South Korea and raised in Boston, from a previous marriage.

References

External links

*Amy McConnell Schaarsmith (2005)
Roosevelt Hired as Pittsburgh School Superintendent
Retrieved November 10, 2005.
Pittsburgh Public Schools
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Roosevelt, Mark 1955 births American people of Dutch descent School superintendents in Pennsylvania Bulloch family Carnegie Mellon University faculty Harvard Law School alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Politicians from Pittsburgh Presidents of Antioch College Presidents of St. John's College

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

Schuyler family St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni 20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court