Claire D. Ayer (born September 21, 1948) is a Democratic former member of the

Vermont State Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

, representing the two-member at-large Addison Senate District. Claire D. Ayer was first elected to the Vermont State Senate in 2002, and reelected in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016. Ayer served as assistant majority leader of the Vermont Senate, and previously served as

majority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

. She is also the current chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare. She did not run for reelection in 2018, and was succeeded by

Ruth Hardy Ruth Hardy (born 1970) is an American political figure from East Middlebury, Vermont. A Democrat, she was elected to the Vermont Senate in 2018. Early life Ruth Ellen Hardy was born in the Tompkins County area of New York circa 1970, a daughter ...

Biography

Ayer was born September 21, 1948, in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

, and spent her childhood in

Charlotte, Vermont Charlotte is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Queen Charlotte, though unlike Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlottesville, Virginia, and other cities and towns that bear her name, the town's name is pronou ...

. After receiving her high school education at

Champlain Valley Union High School Champlain Valley Union High School (CVU) is a high school located in the town of Hinesburg, Vermont, United States. The school serves the towns of Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, St. George, and Williston. The enrollment for the 2017-2018 schoo ...

in Hinesburg, she attended the Jeanne Mance School of Nursing in

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

, becoming a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

in 1969. She also received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

environmental studies Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities, and social ...

from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

in 1992. She was married to a physician, Dr. Alan Ayer, who died in 2015. They settled in

Weybridge, Vermont Weybridge is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 814 at the 2020 census. Geography Weybridge is located in central Addison County in the Champlain Valley. It is bordered by the town of Middlebury to the southeast ...

in 1979, after spending four years in the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

. Ayer has three adult children and currently lives in Addison, Vermont. Ayer works as a nurse for an

OB-GYN Obstetrics and Gynaecology (also spelled as Obstetrics and Gynecology; abbreviated as Obs and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and t ...

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History. History One of ...

Public life

Ayer has served in the following positions: *Member

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

: Otter Creek Natural Resources Conservation District (1992 - ). *Member

(2003 - ). *Member

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

(2005 - ). *Member

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

School Board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

. *Member of the board of the Middlebury Area Land Trust. *Member of the Weybridge Conservation Commission. *Member of the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Committee. During the 2015–2016 Legislative Session, Claire D. Ayer was one of three sponsors of Senate Bill S.31, "An act relating to possession and transfer of firearms", which sought to require background checks on substantially all firearm sales, and to prohibit the sale of firearms to persons convicted of certain violent crimes.

References

External links

State Senator Claire D. Ayer
''Addison County Democrats'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayer, Claire D. 1948 births Living people Democratic Party Vermont state senators Middlebury College alumni United States Air Force airmen Politicians from Quincy, Massachusetts Women state legislators in Vermont People from Weybridge, Vermont Female United States Air Force personnel 2008 United States presidential electors 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians

Biography

Public life

See also

References

External links