Robin Rapaport's Rapaport's responsibilities as NYSUT vice president include serving as liaison on education, health, labor and legislation issues to the National Education Association, one of NYSUT's two national affiliates. (The other is the American Federation of Teachers.) Rapaport, former president of the National Education Association of New York, was one of the chief architects of the unification between NYSUT and NEA/NY that occurred Sept. 1, 2006. Rapaport, an English teacher, has a long and distinguished history as an educator and union leader.

Rapaport was elected president of NEA/NY in 2003 after serving six years as statewide vice president. Previously, Rapaport had served 15 years on the NEA/NY Board of Directors.

As president of NEA/NY, Rapaport formed a leadership team that was committed to reaching out to local unions to help ensure a smooth path to unification. Rapaport was active in promoting the union's legislative agenda and working on issues that affect educators across New York. Rapaport was a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention and represents NEA on the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) State Partnership Board. He also is a consumer arbitrator, certified by the Better Business Bureau.

Rapaport holds permanent certifications in English, chemistry, biology and general science, and spent more than three decades as a high school English teacher. He taught in Wyandanch and Elwood on Long Island, Sherburne-Earlville in central New York and Bethlehem, just outside of Albany. In Bethlehem, Rapaport served as adviser to an award-winning student literary magazine and to the student senate. Throughout his teaching career, he was an active unionist at the local, state and national levels.

Rapaport, a Holocaust survivor, was born in Poland, not far from Vilnius, Lithuania. His family emigrated to Canada when he was 10 years old and eventually settled in Rhode Island, where Rapaport graduated from high school. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Rhode Island and completed his master's degree in English literature at Cornell University. An army veteran who rose to the rank of captain, Rapaport served a tour of duty with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam, and also served in Europe.

Rapaport lives in Loudonville, near Albany, with his wife, Linda. He has a daughter, Lisa, and a son, Adam.

March 2008