http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/governors/4282There's a lot of history/information there.
I was curious to look at the period from 1959 on. Republicans Scranton and Shafer were considered moderate and progressive Republicans. I included educational credentials. It is interesting that elected GOP governors were traditionally Ivy graduates. (Schweiker was never elected Governor.) Corbett broke that tradition to smithereens.
David Lawrence, D, 1959-63; 2 years of business college, then self-taught
William Warren Scranton, R, 1963-67; BA & LLM, Yale
Raymond P. Shafer, R, 1967-71; Allegheny College, BA; Yale, LLM
Under Shafer, Pennsylvania adopted a new constitution. Prior to this a governor could only serve one, four year term. The new constitution provided for two four-year terms, and every PA Governor since then has been elected to two terms. Ridge was elected twice, but left to head Homeland Security. Lt. Gov. Schweiker completed Ridge's 2nd term.
(new state constitution, permitting a governor to have two consecutive four year terms)
Milton J. Shapp, D, 1971-79; BS Case Western engineering
Dick Thornburgh, R, 1979 -1987;BS Yale engineering; Pitt JD
Robert P. Casey, D, 1987-1995; BA, College of Holy Cross; JD, George Washington University
Tom Ridge, R, 1995-2001; BA, Harvard; JD, Dickinson Law
Mark S. Schweiker, 2001-2003; BS, Bloomsburg State College; MA, Rider University (New Jersey)
Edward G. Rendell, D, 2003-2011; BA, Penn; JD, Villanova
Tom Corbett, R, 2011 - ? ; BA, Lebanon Valley College; JD, St. Mary's School of Law (Texas)
Official biographies state: "Tom Corbett received his undergraduate degree from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, and taught civics and history in Pine Grove Area High School in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania." Years of graduation are not given.
According to Wikipedia: Early history of Lebanon Valley College
"The College was founded by and initially associated with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Today, Lebanon Valley College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, which happened through a series of church mergers: The Church of the United Brethren in Christ merged with the Evangelical Synod of North America in 1946 creating the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB), which subsequently merged with the Methodist Church in 1968 to create the United Methodist Church. The ties to the Methodist Church are not as strong as they once were, which is evidenced by the lack of mandatory chapel services, but the church maintains a presence on the campus. Out of 34 colleges and academies founded by the United Brethren in Christ Church, Lebanon Valley was one of four to survive."
Corbett, born in 1949,would have done an undergrad degree approximately 1967 - 1971. A graduation year has never been given for his bachelor's degree, as far as I could find. Anyone else found anything? Maybe he took more than 4 years to complete a degree? What is more interesting is that Corbett's family is Roman Catholic and was living in suburban Pittsburgh when he finished high school and started college at this little-known school on the other side of the state (around 1600 total enrollment). When he started there, it would have been affiliated with the United Brethren in Christ Church. A year later when there was a merger of churches, it became affiliated with the Methodist Church. During his years there, there were mandatory chapel services. This would be anathema to a practicing Catholic. Back then we were still being told we could not even attend a relative's wedding in a non-Catholic church, let alone attend regular worship services. So there are some bumps under the rug, so to speak as to why he attended a tiny, private, out of the way, Protestant college. Definitely not in the GOP tradition.
After graduating from this small school, the best job he could get was teaching 9th grade for one year before going all the way to Texas to a bottom ranked, private, (i.e, a damned sight more expensive than in state tuition at Pitt) law school. For the same or MUCH less tuition he could have attended Pitt, Duquesne, Dickinson or Temple law schools. Maybe he couldn't get accepted to them right after college and it took him a year to find a law school which would accept him.
GETTING TURNED DOWN TO ATTEND PITT, PENN STATE OR OTHER STATE RELATED COLLEGES AND LAW SCHOOLS WOULD CERTAINLY EXPLAIN HIS VICIOUS, UNPRECEDENTED SLASHING OF THEIR BUDGETS, WOULDN'T IT? Perhaps for Governor Corbett, revenge is indeed a dish best served cold!
The received wisdom in the legal profession is that you attend law school in the state in which you hope to practice law or run for office, unless you are bright enough to get admitted to one of the top 10 or so law schools, which have national prestige.
The reasonable explanation for why he went to the schools he did is that he couldn't get accepted at higher ranked and less expensive colleges or law schools. When he went to St. Mary's, it was a 4th tier (bottom of the barrel) ranked law school. St. Mary's law grads have trouble even getting jobs in the school's hometown, San Antonio, let alone elsewhere in Texas, let alone in other states.
Everyone always wanted to see Bush's Yale transcripts. I would love to see Corbett's transcripts from high school on.
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