MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND

COUNTY COUNCIL

FORMER MEMBERS

[photo, Marilyn J. Praisner, County Council, Montgomery County, Maryland] MARILYN J. PRAISNER (1941-2008)
Member, County Council (Democrat), 1990-2008

Member, County Council, Montgomery County, representing District 4, 1990 to February 1, 2008 (member, 1990-2008; vice-president, 1992, 1996, 2006; president, 1993, 1997, 2006-07). Member, Health and Human Services Committee, 1990-2002; Management and Fiscal Policy Committee, 1990-2008 (chair, 1990-2006). Chair, Ad Hoc Committee on Outreach, 1995-2008; Planning, Housing, and Economic Development Committee, 2007-08.

Member, Board of Education, Montgomery County, 1982-90 (vice-president, 1983; president, 1984, 1987).

Member, Maryland School Performance Assessment Program Review Panel, 1997-99. Vice-Chair, Local and State Government Advisory Committee, Federal Communications Commission, 1997-2003. Member, Commission on Education Finance, Equity, and Excellence, 1999-2001. Chair, Metropolitan Development Policy Committee, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, 2002. Member, Public Safety Communications Interoperability Governance Work Group, 2003-08; Local Government Advisory Committee on the Chesapeake Bay Program, 2003-08; Commission to Study Local Maintenance of Effort [for educational funding], 2005-07.

Born in Paterson, New Jersey, December 28, 1941. Douglass College, Rutgers University, B.A. (journalism), 1963; University of Maryland (paralegal program). Intelligence analyst, Branch chief and staff member for Deputy Director of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, 1963-68, 1978-89. Board of Directors, Greater Laurel-Beltsville Hospital, 1977-82; Maryland Congress of Parents and Teachers, 1978-82; Suburban Maryland Fair Housing, 1981-82. President, National Federation of Urban-Suburban School Districts, 1987-88 (board of directors, 1982-90). President, Maryland Association of Boards of Educations, 1988-89. Chair, Northeast Region, National School Boards Association, 1989-90. President, Democratic County Elected Officials, 1994-95 (secretary, 1996); County Elected Women of Maryland, 1994-99 (treasurer, 1999-2003). Member, Intergovernmental Work Group on Children's Issues, National Governors Association, 1994-95. Board of Directors, National Association of Counties, 1997-2008 (chair, education, children & families subcommittee, 1993-99; telecommunications task force, 1999; human services & education steering committee, 1999-2000; telecommunications & technology steering committee, 2000-01, 2003-06). President, Maryland Association of Counties, 2003. President, Women of National Association of Counties (NACo) Leadership Network, 2006-07. Charles Willis Award for outstanding school board service, Maryland Association of Boards of Education, 1990. Maryland's Top 100 Women, Daily Record, 1999, 2001, 2006 (Circle of Excellence). Woman of the Year, Montgomery County Business and Professional Women's Club, 2000. Leadership Award, Montgomery County National Organization for Women, 2004. Phyllis Campbell Newsome Public Policy Leadership Award, Center for Nonprofit Advancement, 2007. Married; three children, four grandchildren. Died in Bethesda, Maryland, February 1, 2008.

Opened May 19, 2002, the Burtonsville Community Recreation Center was renamed the Marilyn J. Praisner Community Recreation Center in honor of the Council member who brought many improvements to the Burtonsville area. The Fairland Library at Burtonsville also was renamed the Marilyn J. Praisner Library in 2008.

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