State Rep. Michael K. Hanna of Lock Haven has been named to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors. He participated in his first Board meeting today.

The 20-member board has overall responsibility for planning and coordinating the development and operation of the State System (PASSHE). The governors establish broad fiscal, personnel and educational policies under which the 14 state-owned universities operate.

The Board comprises 11 members who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate, four legislators, three students, the governor or his designee and the secretary of education or his designee. Rep. Hanna was appointed to the Board by House Democratic Leader H. William DeWeese to replace recently retired state Rep. Jeffrey Coy, who had served on the Board since 1988.

Rep. Hanna is beginning his eighth term in the state House of Representatives. He is a graduate of Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania and a former member of the university’s Council of Trustees. Lock Haven University is in his legislative district, which includes portions of Clinton and Centre counties.

“I welcome Rep. Hanna to the Board of Governors and look forward to working with him,” said Board Chairman Charles A. Gomulka. “As a Lock Haven graduate and a former university trustee, he already is familiar with the State System. That knowledge will be a tremendous benefit to all of us on the Board during the course of our deliberations.”

Rep. Hanna first was elected to the House of Representatives in 1990, and has been re-elected seven times. He is a member of the House Finance, Game and Fisheries, and Tourism and Recreational Development committees. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of The Center for Rural Pennsylvania.

He graduated from Lock Haven High School in 1971 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Lock Haven University in 1977. He later earned a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

“Improving education is more than just an investment in our children’s lives – it’s an investment in all of our lives, in our Commonwealth and in our economy,” Rep. Hanna said. “A well-educated work force is a state’s greatest asset. I look forward to the challenge and the opportunity to help shape the future of higher education in Pennsylvania as a member of the State System’s Board of Governors.”

The Board of Governors originally comprised 16 members. Four legislators were added to the Board in 1988. The party caucus leaders in each chamber of the Legislature appoint legislative members of the Board. Other legislators serving on the Board are Sen. James J. Rhoades, R-Schuylkill; Sen. Vincent J. Hughes, D-Philadelphia; and Rep. Matthew E. Baker, R-Tioga.

Other members of the Board of Governors are Chairman Gomulka of Pittsburgh; Vice Chairs Kim E. Lyttle of Pittsburgh and C.R. “Chuck” Pennoni of Bryn Mawr; student members Jude C. Butch (Slippery Rock), Mark Collins Jr. (Indiana) and Regina M. Donato (Kutztown); Governor Edward G. Rendell; Secretary of Education Francis V. Barnes; and Marie Conley Lammando, Steelton; Paul S. Dlugolecki, Mechanicsburg; Daniel P. Elby, York; David P. Holveck, Malvern; Christine Toretti Olson, Indiana; David M. Sanko, Harrisburg; and John K. Thornburgh, Pittsburgh. There is one vacancy.

With nearly 106,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. The 14 PASSHE universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 400,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.