Dianna R. Wentzell, a veteran Connecticut educator who has been on the department’s staff since 2013 and took over as interim head last January, will now run it permanently as commissioner, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday. Her salary is $192,000 a year.
Connecticut’s vacant education-commissioner slot drew a host of qualified candidates, but the next boss has been a familiar face around the agency’s corridors for some time, authorities say.
Wentzell earned a bachelor’s degree from Massachusetts’ Mt. Holyoke College, a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Hartford.
Wentzell began teaching in Farmington in 1988. In 1992 she spent a year overseas in Pakistan, teaching sixth grade technology education, high school creative writing, history, and photography courses at the International School of Islamabad.
Beginning in 1998, she worked four years in the East Haddam Public Schools system, where she developed the district’s programs for gifted students.
Later, she joined Capitol Region Education Council in Hartford in several roles.
From 2008 to 2013, Wentzell worked in school systems in South Windsor and Hartford, before joing the state Education department as chief academic officer,
“Since her appointment as interim commissioner, Dr. Wentzell has proven to be a truly gifted leader and an invaluable asset to our educational system. Her strong management acumen and collaborative approach will help ensure that we continue to build on our successes for our schools and students,” State Board of Education Chairman Allan Taylor said.
“We had a rich field of applicants,’’ Malloy said in a statement, “including the deputy commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Alan Ingram and our own Superintendents Nate Quesnel and Fran Rabinowitz – all individuals of the highest integrity with a deep commitment to students and improving public education. I look forward to the leadership and dynamism Nate and Fran will continue to bring to Connecticut schools and students. They are outstanding individuals and I and our agencies will be working with them to improve student outcomes going forward.”
