Gayle C. Manchin

Gayle Conelly Manchin was appointed to the state Board of Education in 2007 to serve a nine-year term ending 2015. She was elected president in 2013.

She attended West Virginia University, where she attained her bachelor's degree in language arts and education and a master's in reading. She also holds a second master's in educational technology leadership from Salem International University.

Manchin, a native of Raleigh County, taught in Marion County schools and at Fairmont State University. She also was the director of the college's first Community Service Learning Program. While living in Marion County, she was active in her children's activities and community advocacy. She has been integrally involved with AmeriCorps projects and America's Promise for many years. In Charleston, Manchin worked at the Office of Secretary of Education and the Arts, where she implemented the WV PASS (WV Partnerships to Assure Student Success) initiative.

In addition to her duties as a member of the state Board of Education, she served as West Virginia's first lady; a commissioner on the West Virginia Commission for National and Community Service; the chairwoman of the Governor's Healthy Lifestyles Coalition and the West Virginia Citizen's Council on Children and Families; and as co-chair on the Governor's 21st Century Jobs Cabinet and the Intellectual Infrastructure of Vision Shared.

She is distinguished in the way of an emeritus board member for the Education Alliance and past president of the Vandalia Rotary Club of Charleston and the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE). As she assumes the duties of her new appointment as president for our state Board of Education, Manchin continues to serve on the boards of Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), Horton's Kids and The Clay Center.

Mrs. Manchin and Senator Joe Manchin have three children and eight grandchildren.