Published:
Former State Representative Edwin Vargas Jr. of Hartford will serve as the next Governor William A. O’Neill Endowed Chair in Public Policy and Practical Politics at Central.
Vargas’s appointment follows a national search by the University, and he will begin his tenure at Central on Friday, Feb. 24. He will succeed former State Senator and State Commissioner Donald J. DeFronzo, who held the O'Neill Chair from 2016 to 2022.
The endowed chair was established in 2000 by Connecticut’s Board of Governors for Higher Education and the Connecticut State University Board of Trustees to honor the late Governor William A. O'Neill. The chair is housed in the Center for Community Engagement and Social Research (CCESR), which has been designated as a Connecticut Higher Education Center of Excellence.
“As the O’Neill chair, Mr. Vargas’s charge is to promote a nonpartisan view of the history, structure, people, and policies of Connecticut government for students and the larger community,” Central President Zulma R. Toro said. “We are delighted to welcome him to the Central family. His experience as an educator and long history of community and public service will certainly result in meaningful collaborations with our faculty and community leaders, as well providing educational opportunities for our students.”
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.
During and after his years as an educator, Vargas served in several leadership roles in support of his fellow teachers, including president, chief negotiator, and grievance chair for the Hartford Federation of Teachers; executive vice president of the American Federation of Teachers Connecticut; and president of the Greater Hartford Labor Council for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Vargas was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 2012 and served the Sixth House District for five terms. He was appointed deputy speaker of the state House in 2020.
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).
He also has served on many state and local boards and commissions, including the Hartford Hospital Corporation, Connecticut United Way of the Capitol Region, and the Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission, among others.
Mr. Vargas holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Hartford.