Thatcher Kezer has joined Salem State University’s Board of Trustees. A Salem State alumnus, he was appointed by Gov. Maura Healey and recently sworn in by Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. Kezer was a Salem State student trustee in 1986-87 and appointed by Gov. Michael Dukakis as student regent to the Massachusetts Board of Regents of Higher Education for 1987 to 1988.
Kezer, of Amesbury, graduated cum laude from Salem State in 1988 with a bachelor of science degree in economics. He has served in many municipal positions and is currently the town administrator for Marblehead. As the chief administrative officer there, he is involved in all municipal projects, budgeting, collective bargaining, human resources and purchasing decisions, and supervises department heads and staff.
He has served as chief operating officer for the City of Framingham; senior vice president in Devens for MassDevelopment; mayor of Amesbury; director of purchasing and contract administration for the City of Beverly; and as an associate at the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
He was also a project director with the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition/Metropolitan Area Planning Council and served in the same capacity with the Mass Insight Corporation/Massachusetts Clean Water Council. He was an analyst with the Massachusetts Municipal Association in Boston, providing legislative advocacy and public policy strategy.
“I am pleased to be able to contribute to my alma mater by serving once again on the board. I will always appreciate the fact that the education and experience I received attending as a student contributed directly to successes in my professional career in local government and the military,” said Kezer.
Kezer has an extensive military career, including, as a lieutenant colonel, with the Massachusetts Air National Guard where he was a military legislative liaison officer and director of cyberspace operations at the guard’s Joint Forces Headquarters at Hanscom Air Force Base. He also held positions with the U.S. Air Force, including as a major, cell chief of the Crisis Action Team Communications Support Cell at Air Combat Command Headquarters, Langley Air Force Base in Virginia during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Kezer’s appointments include serving as colonel, State Retired List, Massachusetts Organized Militia, and as a member of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Commission. In addition to having earned his bachelor’s of science from Salem State, he also graduated from the Air National Guard Academy of Military Science, Air Force Squadron Officer School, Air Force Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College, along with completing military certificates.