Don Carcieri

Governor Don L. Carcieri was inaugurated as Rhode Island’s 57th Governor on January 7, 2003. Under his direction, Governor Carcieri led efforts to instill greater accountability and higher standards for Rhode Island schools, and launched a number of initiatives to improve math and science education. In 2005, he committed Rhode Island to join Achieve’s American Diploma Project Network, a coalition of 29 states committed to aligning high school standards, assessments, curriculum and accountability with the demands of postsecondary education and work. As part of the Network initiatives, Rhode Island became one of nine states that joined to launch a new, common student assessment in Algebra II, marking the largest effort a group of states has ever undertaken to develop a common assessment based on common standards.

Before becoming governor of Rhode Island, Governor Carcieri was CEO of Cookson America and joint managing director of Cookson Group Worldwide, a manufacturing company with more than 12,000 employees worldwide and over $3 billion in sales at the time he retired. Early in his career, Governor Carcieri was a high school math teacher in Concord, MA.

He served as a director of Achieve, Inc. and as a director of Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in international relations.