Marty Meehan

In May 2018, the faculty council at the University of Massachusetts Boston approved a vote of no confidence for president Meehan and the Board of Trustees based upon the deal for UMass Amherst to purchase Mount Ida College. In a press release, the faculty council asked for a termination of the deal to purchase the Newton college and blamed Meehan and the trustees for having "failed to communicate with the faculty, staff and students of the UMass Boston campus regarding such a detrimental plan and [seeking] to prioritize the interest of one campus over the well-being of another campus."

Meehan's former chief of staff, Lori Trahan, won his former seat, now numbered as the 3rd District, in 2018.

Meehan is the President of the University of Massachusetts, a position he assumed in July 2015, after serving as Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell since September 2007.

Meehan became the President of the University of Massachusetts, a position he assumed in July 2015, after serving as Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell since September 2007. On 1 May 2015, the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees unanimously elected Meehan, citing his record of achievement while serving as the Chancellor at UMass Lowell, his record of public service throughout his career, and his ability to communicate and to inspire, as being among the reasons for selecting him as the 27th President of the Massachusetts University System. Meehan is the first former graduate of a UMass school to serve as President of the UMass System.

Meehan was inaugurated at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate on 12 November 2015, where he vowed to fight for the University of Massachusetts, calling it "the most important institution in Massachusetts in the critical areas of social mobility and economic growth."

Meehan was presented with the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) 2014 President of the Year Award at the organization's 100th anniversary celebration and conference. He was honored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) at the annual District I program in 2012 with the Chief Executive Leadership Award.

On 9 May 2007, Meehan delivered an official resignation statement to the Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), indicating that he would leave his post on 1 July 2007.

Meehan's campaign fund was among the largest campaign accounts of any House member, with $4,829,540 cash on hand reported on October 15, 2005. This is the result of raising more money than he spent in several campaigns since his first in 1992. In 2016, after his first year as president of UMass, Meehan closed his congressional campaign signaling an end to his political career so he could focus his energies on leading the UMass system.

In the 2004 Congressional race, Meehan raised $3,170,733 and spent $459,977 of that, thus adding $2,710,756 to his cash on hand. His opponent, Tom Tierney raised $30,943 and spent $30,406. Overall, in the 2004 race, incumbents in the House of Representatives on average raised $1,122,505 compared to $192,964 for their challengers.

Meehan was mentioned as a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2004, if Massachusetts' junior senator, John Kerry, had been elected to the presidency.

On 10 October 2002, Meehan was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq. In January 2005, nearly three years after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime and as U.S. troops faced an "increasingly sophisticated insurgency in Iraq," Meehan published a Congressional white paper advocating that Iraqi security responsibilities be transferred to a new democratically elected government and that the U.S. develop an exit strategy to remove troops within 12 months to 18 months. During a discussion panel at the Brookings Institution, Meehan expressed concerns about the Bush administration having "no endgame in sight." He told the panel that "it's time for Congress to reassert its role in foreign policy and to take the lead in providing an exit strategy in Iraq."

Meehan came under intense criticism in the days following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, when the Boston Herald reported that he criticized President Bush for not returning to Washington, D.C., sooner than he did after the attacks. Meehan was quoted as saying "I don't buy the notion Air Force One was a target ... That's just PR. That's just spin." Following that incident, Lowell police posted a guard outside Meehan's congressional district office after receiving reports of threatening phone calls. Meehan later recanted his views and said that he believed at that time that Bush had done "an excellent job." Later, both the 9/11 Commission Report, issued in 2004, and President Bush's White House Communications director Dan Barrett acknowledged Air Force One was not a target of the attacks.

Meehan was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, one of seven children born to Martin T. Meehan (d. 2000), a compositor for The Lowell Sun, and Alice (Britton) Meehan (d. 2008). He graduated from Lowell High School in 1974.

In 1996, Meehan married Ellen T. Murphy. They have two children together: Daniel Martin and Robert Francis. The couple divorced in 2016.

Meehan, a Democrat, served in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2007 as the Representative for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district.

Meehan ran for the U.S. House in the 1992 election and was elected on November 3, 1992. He took office in January 1993. Meehan is generally considered to be a political liberal. Meehan is a prominent advocate for campaign finance reform and was one of the major sponsors of Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (called the "Shays-Meehan Bill" in the House and the "McCain-Feingold Bill" in the Senate). He has also been noted for his activism on gay rights issues; for example, Meehan is the chief sponsor of the measure repealing the don't ask, don't tell policy.

Meehan successfully ran for the House in 1992 on a platform of reform, including a commitment to pushing through term limits for members of the House. As part of that platform, Meehan made a pledge not to serve more than four terms. On the House floor in 1995 he scolded members who might go back on their promise to limit their tenure in office. "The best test of any politicians' credibility on term limits," he said, "is whether they are willing to put their careers where their mouths are and limit their own service." Despite his pledge, Meehan again ran for Congress in the year 2000, exceeding four terms by two and a half times.

After completing his law degree, Meehan served as Director of Public Affairs to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and Deputy Secretary of State for Securities and Corporations from 1986 to 1990. From 1987 to 1988, Meehan was a member of the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Harvard Law School. From 1991 to 1992, Meehan was the First Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County, where he established an innovative "priority prosecution" policy that targeted hardened criminals.

Meehan attended the University of Massachusetts Lowell, graduating cum laude in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and Political Science. In 1981, Meehan graduated from Suffolk University with a Master of Public Administration degree, and a Juris Doctor from the Suffolk University Law School in 1986. He has received honorary degrees from the American College of Greece, Suffolk University, Green Mountain College in Vermont, and Shenkar College of Engineering & Design in Israel.

Interspersed with his post-college studies, Meehan held a number of political positions. From 1978 to 1979 Meehan served on the staff to Lowell mayor Raymond F. Rourke. He was the press assistant to Representative James Shannon from 1979 to 1981 and the head research analyst for the Massachusetts Senate's joint committee on election laws from 1981 to 1984.

In response, Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) announced a September 4 primary and an October 16 special election to determine Meehan's successor. The winner was Niki Tsongas, the widow of Paul Tsongas, who held the seat from 1974 to 1979 before being elected to the Senate.

Martin Thomas Meehan (born December 30, 1956) is an American educator, a politician, and a lawyer.