Senator Harriette L. Chandler Served 1999 - 2022 Democrat - First Worcester

Personal Information

Career Highlights

• Currently the Massachusetts Senate President Emerita and Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Bills in Third Reading, the Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Healthcare Financing
• First woman from Worcester ever to be elected to the Massachusetts State Senate
• Currently the Co-Chair of the Prevention for Health Caucus and Co-Chair of the Legislature’s Oral Health Caucus

Education & Public Service

• Wellesley College, B.A. '59
• Clark University, Ph.D. '73
• Simmons Graduate School of Management, M.B.A. '83
• Worcester State College, Honorary Doctorate of Public Administration '88
• Clark University, Honorary Doctorate of Laws '16
• She began her political career when she was elected to the Worcester School Committee in 1991. She served on the Worcester School Committee from 1991-1994, three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1995-2001, and became the first Worcester woman to be elected to the Massachusetts State Senate when she was elected in November of 2000.
• She is currently in her ninth two-year term in the Senate. She has moved up through leadership positions in the Senate, starting as Assistant Majority Whip, then Majority Whip, Assistant Majority Leader, Majority Leader, and Senate President. She was the second woman in Massachusetts history to serve as Assistant Majority Leader, the second woman in Massachusetts history to serve as Majority Leader, and second female Senate President.