Former Hartford State Rep, Union Leader Succeeds New Britain’s DeFronzo
By John McNamara
Former State Representative Ed Vargas, Jr. is the new holder of the Governor William A. O’Neill Endowed Chair in Public Policy and Practical Politics at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) succeeding Don DeFronzo, a former New Britain Mayor, State Senator and state Commissioner of Administrative Services.
Vargas, elected to a sixth term representing Hartford’s 6th House District last November, resigned legislative office in early January in order to accept the part-time academic post based in CCSU’s Center for Community Engagement and Social Research (CCESR). Vargas will begin his tenure February 24th.
Vargas’s responsibilities will include teaching; organizing and participating in public lectures and campus forums that address issues of public policy and practical politics; facilitating University collaborations with state governmental leadership on policy initiatives; supporting CCESR outreach and programming; and mentoring students, especially those pursuing a public service career path.
Vargas’s career in public service spans more than 45 years. From 1972 to 2007, he worked in the Hartford Public Schools system, for which he taught American History at the high school level; supervised the Mathematics Lab; and served as lead teacher at the North End Adult School, which included teaching English to immigrant students. Vargas holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Hartford.
As a history teacher in Hartford schools spanning 35 years Vargas led the Hartford Federation of Teachers and was executive vice president of AFT Connecticut and President of the Greater Hartford Labor Council. In politics he also was the Chairperson of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee. According to a CCSU announcement “throughout his career, Vargas has highlighted his Puerto Rican roots and has held various state and national leadership positions that emphasize his commitment to the Latino community. Among other roles, he has been president of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights, Public Policy Chair of the National Puerto Rican Coalition, and board vice chair of the Center for Latino Progress (formerly the Connecticut Puerto Rican Forum).”
The Governor O’Neill Chair is one of four endowed chairs at CCSU. It was established in 2000 to honor the late Governor William A. O’Neill. The chair is housed in the Center for Community Engagement and Social Research (CCESR).
A precursor to the Governor O’Neill Endowed Chair and its programs at CCSU was the Institute for Practical Politics (IPP) established in the 1980s by the late Professor Emeritus Bill Kerr. In his capacity as Political Science Chair Kerr, a progressive Democrat, organized the IPP that brought political and government leaders of all political stripes to campus from his friend Republican Nancy Johnson to former Cong. Barney Frank of Massachusetts. Kerr’s IPP regularly hosted conferences on practical politics and many of Kerr’s students went on to careers in public service and politics.
