Inaugurated as New Hampshire’s 80th Governor in January 2005, John Lynch is bringing a renewed spirit of bipartisan cooperation to the State House and working to make progress on the issues important to New Hampshire families – improving education, reducing health care costs, protecting the environment, and creating good jobs.

In his first term in office, Gov. Lynch has kept his promise to bring Democrats, Republicans and Independents together to address New Hampshire’s major challenges.

Under John Lynch, New Hampshire erased a major budget deficit and balanced the budget without new taxes – and even invested $50 million in the state’s Rainy Day Fund. At the same time, New Hampshire has made important investments in expanding access to health care, job creation and economic development, and in education at all levels.

Gov. Lynch worked with Democrats and Republicans in the legislature to put in place one of the nation’s toughest and most comprehensive laws to protect children from sexual predators; to repeal a law that had doubled and tripled health insurance premiums for many small businesses and to end the ability of insurance companies to discriminate against sick workers; to pass new laws to reduce mercury emissions and protect groundwater; and to enact comprehensive ethics reform, including creating the first ethics commission for the executive branch.

Gov. Lynch is continuing to work to expand opportunities for New Hampshire citizens. Among his priorities are increasing New Hampshire’s high school graduation rate by expanding alternative learning programs and by requiring young people to stay in school until they reach 18, or receive their high school diplomas, rather than letting them drop out at 16.

Gov. Lynch’s commitment to putting the interests of people first is an extension of his work as a business and community leader.

As the President and CEO of Knoll, Inc., a national furniture manufacturer, he transformed a company losing $50 million a year into one making a profit of nearly $240 million. Under his leadership, Knoll created new jobs, gave factory workers annual bonuses, established a scholarship program for the children of employees, created retirement plans for employees who didn’t have any, and gave workers company.

Gov. Lynch has also served as chair of the University System Board of Trustees, where he worked to keep tuition increases to a minimum; as director of Admissions at the Harvard Business School, where he made ethics one of the criteria for admissions; and as president of the Lynch Group, a business-consulting firm in Manchester.

Long a community leader, John Lynch has served on the board of Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, on the board of the Capitol Center for the Arts, is the past president of the UNH alumni association, and a longtime coach of youth soccer, hockey, softball and baseball.

Gov. Lynch was born in Waltham, Massachusetts on November 25, 1952, the fifth of William and Margaret Lynch’s six children and attended the local public schools. His mother was an elementary school teacher and his father ran a local Boys’ Club.

Working his way through college, John Lynch earned his undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1974. He also holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

He and his wife of 29 years, Susan, live in Hopkinton, and have three children, Jacqueline, Julia and Hayden.

Governor's Website  (Click here to visit Governor Lynch's website.)