Edward M. Augustus Jr. (born March 31, 1965) is an American politician and administrator who is the Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities. He was the

City Manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

from 2014 to 2022 and was a member of the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

Early life

Born at Worcester City Hospital to Edward Augustus Sr. (a machinist) and Dolores (a bank teller), Augustus graduated from St. John's High School in

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Shrewsbury (/ˈʃruzberi/ ''SHROOZ-bury'') is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,325 according to the 2020 United States census, in nearly 15,000 households. Incorporated in 1727, Shrewsbury prospere ...

in 1983. He went on to

Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. With 7,560 students on all campuses, it is the List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston, tenth-largest university ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in political science, and then received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

in Political Science.

Career

2005 Edward Augustus Massachusetts state senator

From 1989 to 1993, Augustus served as a member of the Worcester Public Schools School Committee. After helping to elect Jim McGovern to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Augustus worked in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

as Chief of Staff for McGovern. From 2005 to 2009, Augustus represented the 2nd

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

district in the Massachusetts Senate. After leaving the state senate, Augustus served as executive director of the Children's Defense Fund of California. He left this position in 2010 to run McGovern's re-election campaign. After the election, Augustus became Director of Government and Community Relations at the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

. On December 3, 2013, Augustus was named

. Augustus took over as city manager in January 2014. He initially planned to serve for nine months, while on a leave of absence from the college, but accepted a three-year contract extension on September 30, 2014. During his tenure, the city completed a number of infrastructure projects, including the replacement of downtown streets and sidewalks, and spent $160 million to construct Polar Park. On March 22, 2022, Augustus announced that he would be stepping down from his post as City Manager in May 2022. On June 1, 2022, Augustus was named the first

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Dean College Dean College is a private college in Franklin, Massachusetts. It offers bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, and certificates. History Dean College was founded by Oliver Dean as a co-educational academy, Dean Academy, in 1865. He gave t ...

. In 2023, Augustus was appointed the inaugural secretary of Housing and Livable Communities by Governor

Maura Healey Maura Tracy Healey (born February 8, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she served as Massachusetts Attorney Ge ...

References

External links

City of Worcester profile
1965 births Living people Politicians from Worcester, Massachusetts Suffolk University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Massachusetts city managers Democratic Party Massachusetts state senators State cabinet secretaries of Massachusetts 21st-century members of the Massachusetts General Court {{Massachusetts-MASenate-stub