Nancy Grasmick attended Western High School, an all-girls school in Baltimore City. As a teenager, she temporarily lost her hearing. She was fascinated by the world of the deaf, and wanted to pursue deaf studies.
"My family did not want me to go out of state, so I ended up going to Towson," Grasmick said. "They didn't have a program for preparing people for special education at that time, and so I really wanted to be a pioneer in that regard and I did a student teaching experience at the William S. Baer School in Baltimore City, which is a special school working with the deaf."
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Towson was a pretty small school at the end of the 1950s. Grasmick preferred to call it "intimate." "You weren't anonymous, you weren't lost in the crowd," she said. "You kind of knew all of the students. You knew all of the faculty. There was a close, warm relationship â€" a lot of support, a lot of interest by the professors."
Grasmick was a "day student," now known as a commuter. From time to time she stayed overnight in the dorms with friends. The campus was predominately female, with a "very small percentage of males," she recalled.
Coming from a very rigorous high school, Grasmick initially found the classes "not exceptionally challenging."
"I think that I could have accepted more chalenge in the classes. But they were interesting," she said, and they became more challenging as she took upper-level courses related to her elementary education major.
Grasmick also joined art clubs and played tennis and softball. In her senior year, she was voted to be part of the May Court, an event similar to Homecoming.
"It was a way of highlighting social activities and allowing the students to vote for students on the May Court...It was quite an honor to be selected," she said.
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After graduating in 1961, Grasmick taught at the Baer School for a few years before moving to a school in Baltimore County.
"I was identified by the central office as someone who could help other teachers," Grasmick said. In 1974, she began working her way up, first as a principal of the Chatsworth School, then as an assistant superintendent, and then as associate superintendent for the county.
In 1989, she was asked by then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer to join his administration as a special secretary for children, youth and families. Then in 1991, she stepped into the position of state superintendent of schools.
"It was sort of a very chronological series of steps to get from classroom teacher to state superintendent," Grasmick said. But it wasn't by design. "I expected my greatest aspiration to be a principal. I never thought about a state superintendent. I really never thought about these more encompassing administrative positions."
Grasmick, a long-time Democrat, has held the superintendent post since 1991. Each new governor replaces most members of the state cabinet, but because the State Board of Education appoints the superintendent of schools, she has managed to stay in charge for 15 years.
"You do have to have political savvy," she said, "but on the other hand, you're not restricted day to day by thinking, 'Is someone going to like this decision?'"
In 2002, Grasmick was, for a short time, gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich's top choice for a running mate. She apparently decided that she could do more good for the state's education system as superintendent.
"My career focus is really education and I think to serve in a political office, you have to have a broader agenda," she said.
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Towson University has changed dramatically since Grasmick graduated. But in some ways, it has stayed the same. "Central to this University is the mission of preparing world-class teachers, and that mission hasn't changed," she said. "It's been added to, in terms of the number of really respected programs that exist there beyond education, but it's still a primary focus of Towson." Grasmick said she has a special interest in Towson, since she knows the past and present of the school. "I'm really interested in the policy set forth at the University. I'm interested in the innovation there. I'm interested in more cross-campus preparation, especially in math and science, that can't be done by the College of Education alone," she said.
Grasmick joined TU's Board of Visitors two years ago.
"We look at the progress of things that are occurring at the University, offering suggestions for things that need to be accomplished," she said.
What needs to be accomplished?
"Well, they need to produce more teachers," she said, explaining that the state is suffering from a teacher shortage.
Perhaps one day Towson will produce another Nancy Grasmick.
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