J.D. LaRock, JD, EdD
Visiting Associate Teaching Professor, College of Professional Studies
J.D. LaRock is a Visiting Associate Teaching Professor in the Doctor of Law and Policy program. He has held several roles in Northeastern’s senior administration, including chief of staff to President Joseph E. Aoun.
Previously, J.D. served as an education policymaker at the federal, state, and international levels. As senior education advisor to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, he helped lead the 2008 reauthorization of the federal Higher Education Act and the 2007 passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which provided $20 billion in financial aid to U.S. college students. As education policy director for Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, J.D. helped author the Achievement Gap Act of 2010, a landmark education reform law, as well as Massachusetts’ successful application to President Obama’s “Race to the Top” competition, which secured $250 million for the state. He is the co-editor of Special Education for a New Century (Harvard Education Press, 2005) and editor of the OECD publication Education at a Glance(2012).
J.D. is a member of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and Chair of the Board of Trustees at North Shore Community College. He holds three degrees from Harvard, including a doctorate in education administration, policy, and social planning, and a law degree from Georgetown.