Dan Domenech Receives NAESP Distinguished Service to Education Award
The executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association, retired this month after a 55-year career in education.
After a 55-year career in education, culminating in his leadership as executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association, Dan Domenech has retired. To celebrate his dedication and recognize his accomplishments, NAESP Executive Director L. Earl Franks, Ed.D., CAE, presented Domenech with the Distinguished Service to Education Award during the AASA annual conference in mid-February.
This award is reserved for recognizing those who have made significant educational contributions to the nation by improving the quality of education for children and cultivating a greater understanding of education on a global level. Domenech has done just that. Given at the discretion of the NAESP Board of Directors, this high honor has only been awarded 10 times in our NAESP’s 102-year history. Past recipients include Sen. Edward Kennedy, Fred Rogers, and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley.
Over his career, Domenech, among many achievements:
- Led many groundbreaking task forces and committees, encouraging the development of what is now ALAS, The Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents;
- Demonstrated exemplary service as a public figure deeply involved in improving education for all, serving as a founding member of the Learning First Alliance;
- Shepherded education reform through the legislative process, focusing on modernization and improvement of the E-rate program, IDEA, and Title I, as well as supporting library systems, rural education, Medicaid in schools, and food programs to combat student hunger; and
- Published works and conducted research that profoundly influenced thinking on public education in the U.S. and had an impact on education policy.
This outstanding educational leader has made a positive difference in the lives of countless students throughout the years and has left a lasting imprint on our country’s schools and the entire public education system.
Former AASA President David Schuler has stepped in to replace Domenech, who has been at the helm of AASA since 2008, as the new executive director of AASA.
