Tom Gentzel is executive director of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, which represents and serves more than 5,000 school directors, administrators and other officials from school entities throughout the state.
Mr. Gentzel previously served as a county administrator and, later, as assistant executive director of the state association of county commissioners. He joined the PSBA staff in 1980 as a lobbyist and, five years later, was promoted to head the organization’s Office of Governmental and Member Relations – a position he held for more than 16 years. He became PSBA executive director in 2001 and leads a staff of more than 140 persons who provide a range of publications, conferences and seminars, as well as insurance programs, management and legal assistance, and advocacy services for local school officials.
In his official capacity, Mr. Gentzel is a member of the boards of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS), the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) and the Pennsylvania School District Liquid Asset Fund (PSDLAF). He chairs the Board of Directors of School Boards Insurance Company of Pennsylvania (SBIC of PA) and is a board member of the PSBA Insurance Trust, School Claims Service, and EasyProcure, a procurement card joint venture. In addition, Mr. Gentzel is completing a second two-year term as Vice President at Large for the National School Public Relations Association and is a member of the Outreach Advisory Board for The Pennsylvania State University. He was appointed by Gov. Tom Ridge and reappointed twice by Gov. Edward Rendell to the State Advisory Panel on Special Education, and was named by the governor to the Pennsylvania Early Learning Council. In 2009, he was elected by fellow state executive directors as Chair-Elect of the Federation Executive Directors’ NSBA Liaison Committee, a group he will chair in 2010-11. He previously headed the Pennsylvania Coalition for Public Education, is a founder and former coordinator of the Alliance for a School Aid Partnership, and has served on numerous other committees. He is a member of Pi Alpha Alpha, the National Honorary Society for Public Affairs and Administration.
Mr. Gentzel holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Development and a Master of Public Administration degree, both from Penn State. He and his wife, Sherrin, have been married since July 1974, and are the parents of three sons and the proud grandparents of Rhett Gentzel, born in September 2008.