Originally, all John A. Danaher III ’72 wanted to do was become an English teacher after graduating from Fairfield, so he spent time teaching in a small, private school in West Hartford. However, Danaher’s plans changed.
After doing well on the LSATs, he became a defense attorney and later held a job in the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Danaher was formerly the Assistant U.S. Attorney for Connecticut and has held several leadership positions in the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell named Fairfield graduate Danaher the Connecticut Department of Public Safety Commissioner. Danaher was confirmed by the state legislature on March 21. He replaces Leonard C. Boyle, who left to become the director of the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center.
He faces the task of leading one of the state’s most important agencies and hopes to make many changes to improve it.
“There are a number of issues that need to be addressed, especially in internal affairs, which have received a lot of publicity recently,” Danaher said. “We need to make sure we handle matters consistently and fairly.”
“I am extremely pleased to have an experienced and able federal prosecutor like John move into this critical and challenging position,” Rell said in a statement.
The Department of Public Safety includes the Division of State Police, the Division of Fire, Emergency and Building Services, and the Division of Scientific Services, which conducts forensic investigations
Danaher, 56, was the interim U.S. Attorney from May 2001 to Nov. 2002 and has played a role in many of the most important cases in Connecticut history.
He supervised the prosecutions of corrupt mayors Philip Giordano of Waterbury, who was convicted for sexual abuse, and Joseph P. Ganim of Bridgeport, who was convicted for various counts of corruption. He also supervised the investigation of the 2001 anthrax death of Ottilie Lundgren.
“Everything you do in life leads to other things; my time at Fairfield as an English major led to my job as a teacher and my time as a prosecutor led to this position,” said Danaher, who lives in West Hartford with his wife and four children.
The state legislature’s executive and nominations committee praised Danaher for his career achievements when they unanimously voted to approve his nomination.
Former Public Safety commissioner Henry Lee, a noted forensic expert, spoke before the committee and expressed support for Danaher.
“He’s a true leader, highly respected by law enforcement in Connecticut and other parts of the country,” Lee told the committee. “In the department, we need true leadership. I’m sure he can serve the department and the state well.”
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