Member of the Board of Trustees
Michael Dannenberg
Michael Dannenberg serves as deputy commissioner for policy at the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. Alongside the commissioner, he leads the department’s work on state student financial aid and student success initiatives.
Dannenberg is a longtime senior education adviser in Washington, D.C., having worked with a range of public officials, including former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Under Secretary Martha Kanter, the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the late Sen. Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, several Democratic presidential nominees, and multiple gubernatorial candidates.
While at the U.S. Department of Education, Dannenberg led efforts on teacher education, college completion and student aid. During his time with Sens. Kennedy and Pell, he played a key role in drafting two reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Education Finance Incentive Grant Program, the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act, and other federal education and appropriations laws.
Between government roles, Dannenberg directed education policy and budget programs at advocacy groups and think tanks. He served as director of higher education policy at the Education Trust and founded the PK-16 Education Policy Program and Federal Education Budget Project at the New America Foundation.
His work has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Politico Magazine and The American Prospect. He has testified before Congress and state legislatures and appeared on PBS, WNYC, C-SPAN, CNBC, MSNBC and CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
A first-generation college graduate, Dannenberg financed his entire postsecondary education through grants, scholarships and student loans. He holds degrees from Boston University, Stanford University and Yale Law School.