Doug Mesecar was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science Phi Beta Kappa from Hope College in Holland, Michigan. During his time at Hope College, he also played on the school’s basketball team. In 1996, Mesecar pursued graduate studies in education at the University of Denver in Colorado, where he obtained a provisional license to teach. Mesecar went on to teach fifth grade at Witt Elementary in Jefferson County, Colorado, where he beta-tested new district standards and taught special education students.

 

After teaching, Mesecar went to Washington, D.C., to work on federal education policy in the House of Representative. In 2001, he joined the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to work for Chairman John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). In this position, Mesecar was able to oversee the writing of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002.

 

Mesecar first joined the Department of Education in 2003, becoming chief of staff of the Office of Elementary Secondary Education (OESE). From 2004 to 2005, he served as the deputy chief of staff in the Office of the Secretary. He left the department to become the Director of Government Relations and Policy Advisor to Edison Schools, Inc., a company based in New York that contracts with school districts to design and manage their curricula and programs.

 

Mesecar returned to the Department of Education in 2007, serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development (OPEPD) and as Acting Assistant Secretary until Bill Evers' confirmation in October 2007. OPEPD plays a key role in the Department of Education’s Budget Service, Performance Information Management Service, Policy and Program Studies Service, and Office of Educational Technology. In this position, Mesecar gained a few months’ experience working with the educational budget.

 

On February 19, 2008, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced that Doug Mesecar would lead the OII as Assistant Deputy Secretary and Mesecar formally took the position on March 2, 2008. He served until the end of the administration of George W. Bush.

Official Bio