About Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana

Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana was confirmed as assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the Department of Education by the U.S. Senate on July 24, 2009. Prior to arriving at the Department, Meléndez served as superintendent of the Pomona Unified School District (Calif.) since 2006. In 2009, her success as an education leader was recognized by the American Association of School Administrators, which voted her California Superintendent of the Year. Meléndez earned her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, where she was in the Rossier School of Education program specializing in language, literacy and learning. She earned a bachelor's degree cum laude in sociology from the University of California at Los Angeles. She is married to Otto Santa Ana, a professor in the Department of Chicano Studies at UCLA.

Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana supports the following educational non-profits:

• ClassWish