Chris Mathias

Mathias enlisted in the United States Coast Guard after graduating from high school. During his service, Mathias engaged in search and rescue and law enforcement operations, and later secured Top Secret clearance to conduct shipboard communications on the USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10), the nation's heaviest non-nuclear icebreaker.[2] He used the G.I. Bill to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice administration from Boise State University, where he was student body president and the university's first McNair Scholar.[3] Mathias later earned a J.D. degree from Vermont Law School and a Ph.D. in law and public policy from Northeastern University. His dissertation focused on how Idaho has implemented the National Incident Management System.[2] [4]

Mathias worked as law clerk for Senator Patrick Leahy and afterward worked as a lecturer at Northeastern University. After completing his Ph.D., he worked as the chief academic officer for the Idaho State Board of Education and then for the University of California, Santa Cruz, which builds and maintains the Idaho Standards Achievement System.[3]

Mathias is the recipient of the Idaho Governor's Commendation for Distinguished Public Service and the Idaho Business Review's Accomplished 40 Under 40 award.[5]

Mathias lives in the North End neighborhood of Boise, Idaho with his wife, Katie, and their two children.[3]