26 Facts About Marty Meehan

Martin Thomas Meehan was born on December 30,1956 and is an American academic administrator, politician, and attorney.

Since July 2015, Marty Meehan has served as the President of the University of Massachusetts after serving as Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell since September 2007.

In 1981, Marty Meehan graduated from Suffolk University with a Master of Public Administration degree, and a Juris Doctor from the Suffolk University Law School in 1986.

From 1978 to 1979, Meehan served on the staff to Lowell mayor Raymond F Rourke.

Marty Meehan was the press assistant to Representative James Michael Shannon from 1979 to 1981 and the head research analyst for the Massachusetts Senate's joint committee on election laws from 1981 to 1984.

From 1987 to 1988, Marty Meehan was a member of the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Harvard Law School.

From 1991 to 1992, Marty Meehan was the First Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County, where he established an innovative "priority prosecution" policy that targeted hardened criminals.

Marty Meehan ran for the US House in the 1992 election, challenging another Democrat, the 4-term incumbent Chet Atkins.

Marty Meehan is a prominent advocate for campaign finance reform and was one of the major sponsors of Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

Marty Meehan has been noted for his activism on gay rights issues, and was the chief sponsor of the measure repealing the don't ask, don't tell policy.

Marty Meehan successfully ran for the House in 1992 on a platform of reform, including a commitment to pushing through term limits for members of the House.

On October 10,2002, Marty Meehan was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.

In January 2005, nearly three years after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime and as US troops faced an "increasingly sophisticated insurgency in Iraq," Marty Meehan published a Congressional white paper advocating that Iraqi security responsibilities be transferred to a new democratically elected government and that the US develop an exit strategy to remove troops within 12 months to 18 months.

In 2016, after his first year as president of UMass, Marty Meehan closed his congressional campaign signaling an end to his political career so he could focus his energies on leading the UMass system.

Marty Meehan was mentioned as a possible candidate for the US Senate in 2004, if Massachusetts' junior senator, John Kerry, had been elected to the presidency.

On May 9,2007, Marty Meehan delivered an official resignation statement to the Speaker of the House, Rep.

Marty Meehan became the President of the University of Massachusetts, a position he assumed in July 2015, after serving as Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell since September 2007.

On May 1,2015, the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees unanimously elected Marty Meehan, citing his record of achievement while serving as the Chancellor at UMass Lowell, his record of public service throughout his career, and his ability to communicate and to inspire, as being among the reasons for selecting him as the 27th President of the Massachusetts University System.

Marty Meehan is the first former graduate of a UMass school to serve as President of the UMass System.

Marty Meehan made raising money for scholarship funds the centerpiece of his inauguration.

Additionally, the UMass Foundation, in part based on Marty Meehan's recommendation, voted to divest direct investments in fossil fuels from the university's endowment, making it the first major public university in the nation to take such action.

Marty Meehan was presented with the Association of College Unions International 2014 President of the Year Award at the organization's 100th anniversary celebration and conference.

Marty Meehan was honored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education at the annual District I program in 2012 with the Chief Executive Leadership Award.

Marty Meehan stated that UMass Boston Deputy Chancellor Barry Mills, appointed the previous month, would serve as interim chancellor "until [university] finances are stabilized and the university is positioned to attract a world-class chancellor through a global search", specifically to address the university's 2017 operating budget deficit of $30 million.

Marty Meehan is on the Board of Trustees at Natixis Global Asset Management and on the Board of Governors at Lowell General Hospital.

In July 2022, Marty Meehan married Jennifer Maguire Marty Meehan, the Director of Philanthropy at Lowell General Hospital.