Former Maine Governor John McKernan is Chairman and CEO of consulting and investment firms McKernan Enterprises, Inc. and Nottingham Equity, Inc. in Portland, Maine. He served as the President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation from 2013-2015 and on the Board of Directors of Education Management Corporation from 1999-2015, where he was its CEO from 2003 to 2007, and Chair from 2006-2012.
Governor McKernan currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Management and Training Corporation and of the American Action Forum (a Washington, D.C. policy institute). He served for two terms in the United States Congress from 1983 to 1987 and then as Maine’s 71st Governor for two four-year terms from 1987 to 1995.
During his two terms as Governor of Maine, Governor McKernan won national recognition for leadership and innovation in education and human resources. He has served as Chairman of the New England Governors Association, the Coalition of Northeastern Governors, the Education Commission of the States, and the National Education Goals Panel and was recognized as an Outstanding Governor by the American Society for Training and Development.
He is also the author of Making the Grade, a book on youth apprenticeship. Governor McKernan is a graduate of Dartmouth College (B.A. ’70) and the University of Maine School of Law (J.D. ’74).