Madeleine Dean

The youngest of seven children—five brothers and one sister—Madeleine Dean was born to Bob and Mary Dean in Glenside, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Abington Public School. She graduated magna cum laude from La Salle University, and earned her J.D. degree at Widener University. She was previously a student at the Fels Institute of Government of the University of Pennsylvania.[5]

After law school, Dean returned to the Philadelphia area and practiced law with the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers, going on to serve as executive director. She then opened a small, three-woman law practice in Glenside, and served as in-house counsel for her husband's growing bicycle business.[6]

While raising three young sons, Dean changed career paths and turned to teaching. She served 11 years as an assistant professor of English at her alma mater, La Salle University, in Philadelphia, where she taught composition, persuasive writing and rhetoric, business writing, legal writing, and ethics. In her private and professional life she has continued to write, and has contributed to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, The Patriot-News and other publications.[6]

Dean got her start in politics soon after graduating from high school when at 18 she was elected to serve as a local committee-person.

She volunteered on her first campaign for Joe Hoeffel's reelection to the state legislature, for the same district seat she later held. It was on that campaign that she met her future husband, PJ Cunnane, himself a 19-year-old elected committee-person.

Having worked and volunteered in the political world for decades, and her children grown, Dean was asked to become a public servant herself, serving as Abington Township commissioner, and ran for state representative in 2012.[7] In the State House, she prioritized social issues such as addiction, equal rights, access to healthcare, ethics, criminal justice reform, and gun violence.

After the shooting at Sandy Hook, Dean and Dan Frankel co-founded the gun violence prevention caucus, PA SAFE Caucus. The caucus is a self-described coalition of legislators and advocates dedicated to curbing the problem of illegal guns.[8]

In 2015, Dean was appointed to the Governor's Commission for Women,[9] a commission designed to advise the governor on policies and legislation that promote equality issues ranging from sexual assault to business initiatives.[9] In 2017, she was elected chair of the Southeast Delegation of the Pennsylvania House Democrats, composed of 22 House Democrats representing nine counties.[10]

She lives in Abington Township (with a Jenkintown address), with her husband P.J. Cunnane. Cunnane is an entrepreneur in the bicycle industry and managed Advanced Sports International. They have three grown sons and three grandchildren. Her son, Pat, was senior writer and deputy director of messaging in the Obama administration.[19]

• Women in the United States House of Representatives
• List of La Salle University people

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Madeleine Dean.

• Congresswoman Madeleine Dean official U.S. House website
• Madeleine Dean for Congress

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Madeleine Dean (D) state legislature profile
• Appearances on C-SPAN