First-Year Fellow Mentor: Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster '78

The First-Year Fellows program is a unique opportunity for first-year students to engage meaningfully in public policy early in their Dartmouth careers. Each year, around 20 students are selected and placed in fellowships with Dartmouth alumni in Washington, D.C., who are willing to take on a significant mentoring role. 

"Capitol Hill is an incredibly fast-paced, exciting environment and summer fellowships provide students with an invaluable opportunity to see how their government works so they can get involved in the legislative process. As a Dartmouth graduate who now represents Hanover and the Second District of New Hampshire, I’m very much looking forward to working with the Rockefeller Center this summer." --Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster '78

Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster '78. First-Year Fellow Mentor since 2014.

Ann McLane Kuster '78 was born and raised in Concord, New Hampshire. She and her husband Brad, an environmental lawyer, now live in Hopkinton where they raised their two sons, Zach and Travis. This Summer, Kuster is serving as a mentor through Samuel Libby '17 through the First-Year Fellows program.

Kuster was elected to the United States Congress to represent New Hampshire’s 2nd District in November 2012 and took office on January 3rd, 2013. She is the first woman to ever represent the district in Congress and is a member of the House Committees on Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs, and Small Business.

As a longtime community activist, author, attorney, and advocate, Kuster has focused her career on increasing access to affordable health care and higher education for families. She has been actively involved in a number of health and education policy issues, including the creation of the Medication Bridge Program to distribute free medication to low-income families and the UNIQUE College Savings Program to help families save for their children to attend college.

With her late mother, Kuster co-authored a book entitled The Last Dance: Facing Alzheimer’s with Love and Laughter. Kuster and her father, Malcolm McLane, toured the state speaking out about aging and Alzheimer’s disease and the burdens on families and caregivers. In 2008, she received the Rainbow Award from Riverbend Community Mental Health Center, which celebrates those who raise awareness of mental health issues in New Hampshire.

Active in community service, Kuster served on the Board of Trustees of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, New Hampshire Public Radio, the Capitol Center for the Arts, and Child and Family Services of New Hampshire. She was a Founder of the Women’s Fund of New Hampshire and served on the Board of the Tucker Foundation at Dartmouth College to encourage community service. In addition, Kuster is a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Before her election to Congress, she maintained a private adoption practice in which she helped hundreds of New Hampshire families adopt children.

Kuster graduated from Dartmouth in 1978 in the third class with women. She graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984.