Shari Cantor (born 1960) is a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

and politician from

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The ...

. She is the Mayor of West Hartford.

Early life and education

A native of West Hartford, Cantor attended Hall High School. She graduated magna cum laude from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

(UConn) with a degree in accounting.

Family

She met her husband, Michael Cantor, while studying at the University of Connecticut. They have four children together, all boys. Their youngest son was born with a serious heart defect, which has led to her volunteer leadership with the Connecticut Children's Medical Center and the American Heart Association.

Business career

She has worked at

Coopers & Lybrand PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

and

Cigna Cigna is an American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Its insurance subsidiaries are major providers of medical, dental, disability, life and accident insurance and related products and ser ...

Political career

Cantor joined the West Hartford town council in 2004 and became Deputy Mayor in 2012. In 2016 she became Mayor of West Hartford, her first two projects were the designation of a town

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

and making the town a “heart safe community." Even though West Hartford is an affluent town of 63,000 the office is unpaid. She is the de facto leader of the West Hartford Democrats. Challenges during her term as mayor have included conflict with the

Metropolitan District of Connecticut The Metropolitan District Commission of Connecticut (MDC) is a public non-profit municipal corporation chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1929 to provide drinking water and sewer service to the Hartford area. The original agreement ...

and dealing with the effects of a decrease in state education aid. She has been on the

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

board of trustees since 2014 and as of May 2019 she was one of two candidates under consideration to replace resigning chairman Thomas E. Kruger. Kruger had named her as his preferred successor over lobbyist and former Connecticut House Speaker

Thomas D. Ritter Thomas Drummond Ritter (born November 24, 1952) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and retired politician from Connecticut who was the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1993-1998. Early life and education Ritter attended Am ...

, writing that "it’s time for the University board to be led by a woman.”

Awards and recognition

*Cantor was inducted into the UConn Hall of Fame in 2018. *Cantor was the winner of top honors nationally at the U.S. Conference of Mayors 14th Annual Climate Protection Awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantor, Shari American accountants Women accountants Women mayors of places in Connecticut Connecticut Democrats 1960 births Living people University of Connecticut alumni Hall High School (Connecticut) alumni 21st-century American women