J. Chris Straub
John Christopher Straub III (Chris) was born in Flagler, Colorado on January 22, 1944. He graduated from Flagler High School in 1962. He attended Central Methodist College, Fayette, Missouri, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Chemistry in 1966. He used four summer National Science Foundation Grants to attend the University of Missouri-Rolla and received the Master of Science teaching degree in Chemistry in 1969. He completed the requirements for the Certificate of Specialization in Secondary Administration at the University of Missouri-Columbia in December 1973 and the Doctor of Education in Educational Administration degree from UMC in 1975.
Chris taught mathematics and physics at Kemper Military Academy in Boonville, Missouri during the second semester of the 1965-66 school year. He taught chemistry and physics at Union High School in Union, Missouri from September 1966 to June 1972. He served as the Assistant High School Principal at Union during the 1972-73 school year, as Assistant Superintendent of the Union R-XI School District from 1973 through 1976 and as Superintendent of that district from 1976 through 1979. Straub assumed the Superintendency of the Hannibal, Missouri School District in July of 1979, a position he held until July 1, 1989, when he became the Superintendent of Schools in Jefferson City, Missouri. He served in that position until his retirement from Missouri public school work, July 1, 1997.
Straub served as the Assistant Executive Director of the Missouri Association of School Administrators for three years. His accomplishments with MASA included initiating a school finance assistance service and assisting with the lobbying activities of the association. On July 1, 2000, he accepted an appointment as the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Missouri School Boards’ Association. He continued to serve as a coordinator of the MASA school finance assistance service and also represented the Missouri Association of School Business Officials in the Missouri General Assembly. Effective July 1, 2006, Straub gave up his duties as a lobbyist for MSBA and MOASBO. He currently serves as a financial and legislative consultant for MASA, MOASBO and the School Administrators Coalition.
Straub’s civic involvement has included serving in a leadership capacity in the Chamber of Commerce, the United Way and the Rotary Club in Union, Hannibal and Jefferson City. He also served as an officer in the YMCA in both Hannibal and Jefferson City.
His professional memberships include the American Association of School Administrators, the Mid-American Association of School Superintendents, the Midwest Suburban Superintendents Association, the Missouri Association of School Administrators and the Missouri Retired State Teachers Organization. Straub served as President of the Missouri Association of School Administrators in 1990-91. He served as Treasurer and Secretary of that organization and is a former president of the Northeast Missouri Superintendents Organization and the South Central Superintendents Organization. He also served as the General Membership Chairman of the Mid-American Association of School Superintendents.
Straub regularly presents workshops for MASA and MOASBO on school finance. He is a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Central Missouri where he teaches Advanced School Finance. Previously, he served in a similar capacity for both Truman State University and Lincoln University.