Often successful educators gain recognition in professions other than education. When this happens, the professions are very often related to their former careers as teachers. Such is the case for former elementary school teacher Ann Stock, an Indiana native who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs between 2010 and 2013.

Ann Stock graduated from Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1964, and then earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Purdue University. After she graduated form college, she worked as an elementary school teacher, and then as a flight attendant for Pan American Airlines, where she was based in Washington D C. During the 1980 presidential elections,  the ambitious educator served as deputy press secretary for Vice President Walter Mondale. She then became Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Relations for Bloomingdale’s Department Stores, where she worked for ten years. In 1993, President Bill Clinton selected Ann to be his White House Social Secretary, a position she held until 1997. From September 1997 to June 2010, she served as the Vice President of Institutional Affairs at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

In 2010, President Barack Obama named Ann Stock as his Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). After a Senate confirmation hearing, she was sworn in on June 23, 2010. Ann once explained that the primary goal of the ECA is to bring together students and professionals from around the country and throughout the globe in the hope of building stronger relationships between the countries. The organization sponsors many programs for international education exchanges which promote cultural learning and mutual understanding. Its best-known program is the Fulbright Scholar Program. Since the organization was established, more than one million people have participated in ECA exchange programs, including more than fifty Nobel Laureates and over three-hundred-fifty current or former heads of state and government.

The former teacher retired from her position last summer.

Ann Stock: A true chalkboard champion.