Madeleine Kunin
Madeleine May Kunin was born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1933. In 1940, Madeleine immigrated to the United States with her widowed mother and brother. In 1956, Kunin earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and master's degrees from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Vermont. Before running for office, Kunin worked as a journalist for The Burlington Free Press. Kunin's political career began in 1972 when she was elected as a Vermont State Representative. In 1978, she became the first female and first Jewish governor of Vermont. Kunin served two terms. During the Clinton Administration, Kunin served as United States Deputy Secretary of Education and then Ambassador to Switzerland and Ambassador to Liechtenstein. In 1995, Kunin married her first husband, Arthur Kunin, and raised four children in Burlington, Vermont. In 2006, she remarried John W. Hennessey, Jr., a Dartmouth College professor.
Madeleine May Kunin was born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1933, and she describes her childhood there. In 1940, Madeleine, along with her widowed mother and brother Edgar, escaped the Nazis in Switzerland and immigrated to the United States. Her mother never remarried and raised the two children on her own. After a short time in California, the family settled in Forest Hills, New York, where she attended a reform temple. She celebrated a group bat mitzvah at Town Hall in NYC. After earning her master's degree from Columbia School of Journalism, she moved to Vermont at the suggestion of her brother, who was already there working as a journalist. She accepted a job with the Burlington Free Press thinking, "After a year, I [will] apply to the Paris Herald Tribune or the New York Times." Her travel ambition changed after marriage to Dr. Arthur Kunin and the birth of their four children. In 1971 the women's movement was in full swing. Madeleine and her friend Esther Sorrell decided to run for public office. After serving in the legislature and as lieutenant governor, Madeleine was elected the first woman governor of the state of Vermont in 1985. Governor Kunin's administration expanded children's healthcare, environmental legislation, and opportunities for women. During her term, the formula for funding schools was changed to make education more equitable for all of Vermont's children. During the Clinton administration, Madeleine was appointed Deputy Secretary of Education under Richard Riley. Madeleine worked to improve science education for girls, technology education, and parent involvement in the schools. Later, as U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, she had to grapple with the controversial issue of the role of Swiss banks in World War II. At present, Madeleine teaches classes at the University of Vermont, is a commentator for VPR, and started the Institute for Sustainable Communities, which does both environmental and democracy work. In 2008 her book, Pearls, Politics and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead was published.
