![[photograph of Governor Parris N. Glendening]](/msa/mdmanual/08conoff/images/i000492a.gif)
PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor (Democrat)
e-mail: governor@gov.state.md.us
fax: (410) 974-3275
TTY: (410) 333-3098
World Wide Web: http://www.gov.state.md.us
Parris N. Glendening, Governor of Maryland since 1995. Member, Hyattsville City Council, 1973-74. Member, Prince George's County Council, 1974-82 (chair, 1979-81). County Executive, Prince George's County, 1982-94. Member, Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission, 1984-94; Advisory Commission on Federal-State-Local Relations, 1987-94. Board of Visitors, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland College Park. Chair, Southern Regional Education Board, 1995-96, 1996-97. Born in Bronx, New York, June 11, 1942. Junior College of Broward County, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, A.A., 1962; Florida State University, B.A. (political science), 1964, M.A. (political science), 1965, Ph.D. (political science), 1967. Associate Professor of Government and Politics, University of Maryland College Park. Member, Taxation and Finance Steering Committee (1984-87) and Vice-Chair, Intergovernmental Relations Policy Steering Committee (1987-88) of National Association of Counties. President, Maryland Association of Counties, 1987-88. Trustee Council, YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, 1988-. Past president, National Council of Elected County Executives. Member, Professional Ethics Committee, American Society for Public Administrators, 1989-90. Member, Professional Society Ethics Group, American Association for the Advancement of Science. Co-author, Controversies of State and Local Political Systems (1972), and Pragmatic Federalism (1984), a textbook used in over 400 colleges and universities. Recipient of annual award for distinguished contributions to the practice and study of government, Washington Chapter, American Political Science Association, 1985.
Parris N. Glendening, an educator and author in government and politics, and a local elected official in Prince George's County for 20 years, became Maryland's 59th governor in 1994.
In his first term, Governor Glendening has focused on moving Maryland forward into the 21st century with historic advances in funding for education, expansion of the State's economy to provide family-supporting, private-sector jobs, enhancing Marylanders' sense of safety and security, and preserving Maryland's diverse and sensitive environment.
Working with the 1997 General Assembly, Governor Glendening brought Marylanders an income tax rate below 5% for the first time since the rate was established in 1967. His Smart Growth initiative to protect the Chesapeake Bay and preserve Maryland's precious farm land and open spaces from urban sprawl provides a national model for managed growth.
But it is Governor Glendening's unprecedented support for education that is the centerpiece of his first term. State spending on education increased to $578 million, or by 12% since 1996, while total State spending each year stayed at or below inflation. Meanwhile, since 1996, more than $408 million has been targeted to expand and modernize schools.
To improve Maryland's business climate and promote job growth, Governor Glendening has worked to reduce the State's operating budget and to build a moderate reserve as the economy continued to emerge from the 1990 slump. This made it possible in 1997 for the General Assembly to approve the Governor's recommended 10% income tax reduction, to be phased in over five years, while simultaneously increasing spending on education, public safety, and economic development programs.
The Governor's initiatives to preserve agricultural land and reduce sprawling development make Maryland a leader in environmental planning and management. His package of "Neighborhood Conservation and Smart Growth" programs provides incentives to direct new development into areas with existing infrastructure, to reduce the financial pressure on farmers to sell their land for development, and to clean up and redevelop abandoned or underutilized industrial sites. The legislation achieves important goals: creating jobs and protecting the environment, while using limited taxpayer dollars.
Recognizing that a high quality education system is a major incentive for business development, Governor Glendening initiated a program to ensure that every public school in Maryland is connected to the Internet, providing students and teachers access to the technology they need to compete in the next century. He also strongly supports statewide standards for school performance that have become a national model. An advocate of parent participation in the schools, he continues to volunteer weekly at a local elementary school.
Mr. Glendening attended Florida State University, where he received a bachelor's degree (1964), a master's degree (1965), and a Ph.D. (1967) in political science, becoming the youngest student in FSU history to receive a doctorate. That same year he joined the faculty of the University of Maryland at College Park, where he taught for 27 years, until his election as Governor. His textbooks on government and politics have been used in more than 400 colleges, and he has earned a national reputation for his expertise in government finance.
The Governor began public service in 1973 as a City Councilman in Hyattsville,. He was elected to the Prince George's County Council in 1974 and twice served as Council Chair. In 1982, he was elected County Executive of Prince George's County and is the only County Executive in Maryland history to serve three terms (1982-1994).
Innovative education initiatives, enhanced public safety programs, and an extensive citizen involvement program led the County to its national recognition in 1986 as the "All America City" by the National Civic League. His leadership, innovation and effectiveness also were recognized by City and State magazine, which in 1990 named him the "Most Valuable County Official" in the nation.
The Governor and his wife Frances Anne, an attorney with the Federal Elections Commission, live in University Park with their son, Raymond.
© Copyright November 12, 1997 Maryland State Archives