Adrian Hale named state Regent for Rochester
Adrian Hale, a Rochester native and longtime proponent of education reform and career preparation, was appointed this week to the state Board of Regents, overseeing education policy across New York.
He replaces Ruth Turner, who stepped down earlier this year to take a job as deputy superintendent in the Rochester City School District.
Hale, 34, grew up in northeast Rochester and graduated from John Marshall High School, then served in the U.S. Marines. After coming home he got an associate's degree from Monroe Community College and a bachelor's degree from Yale University at age 28.
"He truly embodies ... where we think education can take us," Assemblywoman Sarah Clark said in Albany upon his appointment.
Hale spent about 10 years with the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, working on the interrelated issues of workforce development and educational improvement. He became an enthusiastic supporter of business-minded education ventures and charter schools, including while serving on the Democrat and Chronicle editorial board.
"Far too few students of the RCSD get the honor of realizing who they are or actualizing their potential," he wrote in a 2018 guest essay. "The responsibility for this work, of ensuring that all our children receive a high-quality education so they realize their maximum potential, belongs to all of us."
In an interview Thursday, Hale said his goal is to take what he's learned from running and observing educational programs and put it into practice at the policy level.
"A lot of these essential skill sets and the very nature and focus of the educational experience -- it has to start (at the Board of Regents)," he said. "We have to ensure at the top that we inform decision-making policy and institutional practice so our systems work, whether it’s a rural student, a suburban student or an inner-city kid."
Hale was widely considered a potential challenger to Mayor Lovely Warren in 2021, but ultimately decided against running. Since 2021 he has been director of economic and community development at Foundry, a relatively new local company in the cryptocurrency and mining industry.
He joins Wade Norwood as Rochester delegates to the Board of Regents. Before choosing Hale, the state Legislature also interviewed Nahoko Kawakyu O'Connor, a professor at the University of Rochester Warner School of Education and a leader of diversity efforts in Pittsford and other suburban school districts.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Adrian Hale named a Rochester delegate to state Board of Regents
