John Lynch
From dKosopedia
Category: New Hampshire Democrats
John Lynch is the Democratic Governor of New Hampshire. He was inaugurated as New Hampshire’s 80th Governor in January 2005, and reelected in November 2006.
In his first term in office, Gov. Lynch has kept his promise to bring Democrats, Republicans and Independents together to address New Hampshire’s major challenges.
Under John Lynch, New Hampshire erased a major budget deficit and balanced the budget without new taxes – and even invested $50 million in the state’s Rainy Day Fund. At the same time, New Hampshire has made important investments in expanding access to health care, job creation and economic development, and in education at all levels.
Gov. Lynch worked with Democrats and Republicans in the legislature to put in place one of the nation’s toughest and most comprehensive laws to protect children from sexual predators; to repeal a law that had doubled and tripled health insurance premiums for many small businesses and to end the ability of insurance companies to discriminate against sick workers; to pass new laws to reduce mercury emissions and protect groundwater; and to enact comprehensive ethics reform, including creating the first ethics commission for the executive branch.
As the President and CEO of Knoll, Inc., a national furniture manufacturer, he transformed a company losing $50 million a year into one making a profit of nearly $240 million. Under his leadership, Knoll created new jobs, gave factory workers annual bonuses, established a scholarship program for the children of employees, created retirement plans for employees who didn’t have any, and gave workers company.
Gov. Lynch has also served as chair of the University System Board of Trustees, where he worked to keep tuition increases to a minimum; as director of Admissions at the Harvard Business School, where he made ethics one of the criteria for admissions; and as president of the Lynch Group, a business-consulting firm in Manchester.
Long a community leader, John Lynch has served on the board of Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, on the board of the Capitol Center for the Arts, is the past president of the UNH alumni association, and a longtime coach of youth soccer, hockey, softball and baseball.
Gov. Lynch was born in Waltham, Massachusetts on November 25, 1952. His mother was an elementary school teacher and his father ran a local Boys’ Club.
Working his way through college, John Lynch earned his undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1974. He also holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
He and his wife of 29 years, Susan, live in Hopkinton, and have three children, Jacqueline, Julia and Hayden.