RONALD K. BUTCHER
President
Appointed in 1990
Pitman, Gloucester County

» President, State Board of Education, 2007-present
» Vice President, State Board of Education, 1999-2003
» Administrator, Rowan University
» President and CEO, Ronald K. Butcher & Company, S.P., Inc.
» B.S., Business Education, Western Michigan University
» M.A., Education Leadership, Eastern Michigan University
» Ph.D., Educational Administration and Supervision, University of Michigan

» Married, three children

ARCELIO APONTE
Vice President
Appointed in 2005
Piscataway, Middlesex County

» Vice President, State Board of Education, 2006
» Director of Operations and Management, Economic Development, City of Newark
» Former National President, Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc.
» Leadership New Jersey, 2004
» M.A., Business Administration, Rutgers University, Graduate School of Management
» B.S., Electronic Engineering Technology, The College of New Jersey

» Married, two children

Kathleen A. Dietz
Appointed in 2002
Hillsborough, Somerset County

» Clinical Research Outsourcing Manager
» Cordis Corporation, A Johnson & Johnson Company
» President, Hillsborough Township Board of Education, 1991-1993
» Member, Hillsborough Township Board of Education, 1988-1995
» President, Hillsborough Middle School Home & School Assoc. 1996-1997
» Former member, Somerset County Education Services
ASAH Humanitarian of the Year Award.  2007
» Drug Information Association, Chair Finance Committee, 2003- current
» Paul Harris Fellow Community Service Award, Rotary International, 1999
» B.S., Business Management, Rutgers University

» Married, two children

DEBRA ECKERT-CASHA
Appointed in 2002
Kinnelon, Morris County

» Vice President, State Board of Education, 2003-2006
» Attorney, Casha & Casha, Montville, NJ
» Past President, Northwest NJ Association of Family & Consumer Sciences
» Member, New Jersey State Bar Association, 1992-present
» Member, State Board of Psychological Examiners, 1997-2002
» Member, Board of Directors, Lakeland Hills Family YMCA, 1997-2002
» Member, Lakeland Bank Advisory Board, 1999-present
» Member, Board of Trustees, Montville UNICO Foundation, 1999-2004
» ASAH Humanitarian of the Year Award, 2005
» Foreign Language Educators of NJ, President’s Award, 2005
» Lakeland Hills Family YMCA Citizen of the Year, 2000
» Montville Township Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, 1999
» Montville Township High School, Hall of Fame Inductee, 2002
» Montville UNICO, Person of the Year, 2002
» M.A., B.A., Montclair State University
» J.D., Seton Hall University School of Law

» Married

EDITHE FULTON
Appointed in 2007
Toms River, Ocean County

» Member, NJ Advisory Commission on the Status of Women
» Member, New Jersey Reads Board of Directors, 2004-2007
» Member, Literacy Volunteers of Ocean County Board of Directors
» Member, Executive Women of New Jersey Board of Directors, 2005-2006
» Past President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, New Jersey Education Association, 1981-1985 & 1993-2005
» President, Partners in Education, 2003-2005
» Member, Privacy Commission and Streamlining Task Force, 2003-2004
» Member, Governor’s Commissions for Alternate Route, Master Teacher & Monitoring, 1981-1984
» Member, New Jersey Education Association Delegate Assembly, 1971-1976
» President, Ocean County Council of Education Associations, 1972-1976
» President, New Jersey County Presidents’ Council, 1974-1976
» President, Lakehurst Education Association, 1969-1971

» Married, three children and six grandchildren

JOSEPHINE E. HERNANDEZ
Appointed in 2004
Fanwood, Union County

» Vice President, Enrollment Management, Passaic County Community College
» President, Middle States Association of College Registrars and Officers of Admission, 2003 - 2004
» Former Vice President, Board of Directors of the YWCA of Eastern Union County
» Member, National Community College Hispanic Council
» Featured by Univision Channel 41 during Women’s History Month, 2004
» Recipient of Unsung Champion Award CASA Community Organization, 2003
» M.A., Rutgers the State University of New Jersey
» B.A., Inter American University, Magna Cum Laude

» Parent of two children

ERNEST P. LEPORE
Appointed in 2004
West New York, Hudson County

» Director, Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science
» Co-author, What Every Student Should Know (Rutgers Press, 2002)
» Professor, Rutgers University, Philosophy Department
» Former visiting scholar, Third University of Rome
» Ph.D., Philosophy, University of Minnesota
» M.A., Linguistics, University of Minnesota,
» B.A., Philosophy and Linguistics, University of Massachusetts
» Member, American Philosophical Association
» Member, Society for Philosophy and Psychology
» Member, Rutgers University Press, Editorial Board

» Married

KENNETH J. PARKER
Appointed in 2007
Berlin, Camden County

» President, Atlantic City Electric
» Board of Directors:

• New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce
• Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey
• New Jersey Utilities Association
• New Jersey Alliance For Action
• Rowan Foundation Board
• NJN Foundation Board

» Founder’s Advisory Committee, Richard Stockton College of NJ Hughes Center for Public Policy
» Member, Governor’s Economic Growth Committee
» Former Director, Government Affairs for New Jersey, Atlantic City Electric
» Former member, Winslow Township Board of Education
» B.S., Early Childhood Education, Delaware State University

» Married, two children

DOROTHY STRICKLAND
Appointed in 2008
West Orange, Essex County

» Samuel DeWitt Proctor Professor of Education, Rutgers University
» Former classroom teacher; reading specialist; learning disabilities specialist
» Member & Past President of the International Reading Association
» Member, Reading Hall of Fame
» Service to numerous advisory boards and panels at the state and national levels
» Numerous publications in the area of reading instruction
» Received IRA’s Outstanding Teacher Educator of Reading Award; National Council of Teachers of English Award as Outstanding Educator in the Language Arts and the National-Louis University Ferguson Award for Outstanding Contributions to Early Child hood Education.
» Ph.D., and M.A., New York University
» M.S., Newark State College (now Kean University)

» Widowed, three children, seven grandchildren