Highest-Ranking Woman in the U.S. Department of Education Is Stepping Down

Martha J. Kanter, under secretary of education for the Obama administration, has announced that she will leave her post this fall to return to the academic world. Kanter is in charge of higher education programs, federal financial aid programs for higher education, and adult and vocational training programs. Dr. Kanter said she will remain in her post until a successor is chosen.

Dr. Kanter was appointed to the post as under secretary of education in 2009. Previously, she was chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, headquartered in Los Altos Hills, California. It is one of the largest community college organizations in the country, serving more than 45,000 students. From 1993 to 2003, she was president of De Anza College in Cupertino, California.

Dr. Kanter is a graduate of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. She holds a master’s degree in education with a concentration in clinical psychology from Harvard University and a doctorate in organization and leadership from the University of San Francisco.