Governor Corbett nominates Carol Aichele as Secretary of the Commonwealth

Governor Tom Corbett has nominated Carol Aichele to serve as Secretary of the Commonwealth. In this role, she leads the Pennsylvania Department of State, which protects the public's health, safety and welfare by licensing over 800,000 business, health and real estate professionals; maintains registration and financial information for thousands of charities soliciting contributions from Pennsylvanians; administers Pennsylvania's electoral process; maintains corporate filings; and oversees professional boxing, wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts in the Commonwealth.

Acting Secretary Aichele is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in economics. She and her husband, Steve, reside in Tredyffrin and have three children and four grandchildren.

Acting Secretary Aichele is active in both public and private school education. She is past president of the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees, past chair of the Council of Trustees of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Delaware Valley Friends School.

She served on the Board of Directors for Student Services, Inc., for West Chester University and was a member of the Air Force Academy Selection Board for the 7th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. Acting Secretary Aichele served for six years as a member of the Tredyffrin/Easttown Board of School Directors, with two years as the Board's President. She also taught elementary and middle school math and science.

Acting Secretary Aichele served on the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission executive board as the representative of the five Pennsylvania counties. She is also a member of the Brandywine Health and Wellness Foundation, the Transportation Management Association of Chester County, the Sustainability Advisory Board for the City of Philadelphia and the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

For her work in Chester County as both an elected official and as a private citizen, Acting Secretary Aichele was named the 2007 Woman of the Year, Philadelphia Chapter of Women in Transportation and in 2002 March of Dimes Chester County Woman of Achievement for Public Service. She was also one of three county officials in the nation to receive a 2010 Courthouse Award from the National Association of Counties, honoring her work with the Chester County Landscapes2 program.

She co-chaired Chester County Vision, Smart Economic Growth, a $2.54 million Chester County Development Council initiative for the new century, and served on their Board. In 2001, Acting Secretary Aichele joined with West Chester University and community women to sponsor the Women's Summit, Lifting As We Climb: "Women Leading in the 21st Century."