Former Maine Governor John McKernan serves as Chief Executive Office and Vice Chairman of Education Management Corporation (EDMC) and as a member of its Board of Directors. He joined the company in June 1999. Prior to being named CEO in September 2003, he served EDMC as President and Vice Chairman. In that role, he was responsible for the strategic expansion of the company and also oversaw the Law, Education, Human Resources and Strategic Development Departments.
Prior to joining EDMC, he was President and CEO of McKernan Enterprises, Inc., a consulting and investment firm, from 1995-1999.
He served his native state of Maine for two terms in the United States Congress and then as Governor for two four-year terms from 1987 to 1995. While in office, Governor McKernan won national recognition for leadership and innovation in education and human resources, serving as Chair of the Education Commission of the States in 1992 and the National Education Goals Panel in 1994. In 1992 he was named the Outstanding Governor by the American Society for Training and Development and in 1994 he authored Making the Grade, a book on youth apprenticeship.
Governor McKernan has won national recognition for leadership and innovation in education and human resources. The National Alliance of Business honored him in 1993 with the first annual School-to-Work transition award and in 1989 by naming Maine State of the Year. He was also recognized as Outstanding Governor in 1992 by the American Society for Training and Development.
Governor McKernan is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Maine School of Law.
He and his wife, U. S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) reside in Falmouth, Maine and Washington, D.C.