Chris Wright Nicastro

On Thursday, the Missouri State Board of Education named Chris Wright Nicastro (pictured), superintendent of the Hazelwood (Missouri) School District and alumna of the University of Missouri–St. Louis, the state’s new commissioner of education. Nicastro, MEd 1982, will begin her new job Aug. 1.

“I am deeply honored and humbled to be chosen as Missouri’s leader for public schools,” she said in a news release. “I have had a wonderful experience in Hazelwood, and I think that experience has prepared me to take this big step. I am looking forward to working with other state officials and the State Board of Education to sustain the progress that Missouri has made over the past 15 years.” Wright was named Missouri Superintendent of the Year 2009 in October by the Missouri Association of School Administrators.