Dr. Lynne A. Kovash
Inducted Saturday, October 6, 2018
Lynne Doxey Kovash graduated from Moorhead High School in 1970. During high school, she participated in swimming, yearbook and band. Kovash earned her bachelor’s degree in language arts and secondary education and her master’s degree in special education from Moorhead State University, now Minnesota State University Moorhead. She obtained K-12 principal, special education director and superintendent licenses from Tri-College University, Fargo, N.D. Kovash completed her doctorate in educational leadership through the University of North Dakota in 2009.
Kovash spent her entire career in education with Moorhead Area Public Schools. From 1994-96, she was a teacher on special assignment. In 1996-97, she became the assistant principal and transition coordinator at Voyager Elementary School. Following the closure of Voyager, Kovash served as an assistant principal and coordinator of the district’s gifted and talented program before becoming supervisor of planning and assessment. Kovash served as assistant superintendent of teaching and learning from July 1999 until July 15, 2008, when she became the tenth superintendent of Moorhead Area Public Schools. Kovash retired in November 2017.
In October 2018 Kovash received the Polaris Leadership Award for a lifetime of achievement in education from the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. She was named MASA Administrator of Excellence in 2017, received the Dennis R. Heitkamp Leadership Award from Lakes & Prairies Community Action Partnership in 2016, and was selected as a Distinguished Alumnus by MSUM in 2010.
Kovash served as president of Minnesota Association of School Administrators in 2014-15 and was a member of the Governing Board for AASA, the School Superintendents Association. She was active on all four MASA committees and was a member of the MASA Foundation Board. Besides being a past president of Moorhead Rotary, Kovash was a member of the Minnesota Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation, United Way of Cass-Clay, MSUM Foundation Board, and Fargo-Moorhead Chamber of Commerce. Kovash served on the Minnesota Department of Education Local Assessment and Accountability Advisory Committee, the MDE Assessment and Accountability Working Group, and on advisory committees for Tri-College University and MSUM. She also served on the Superintendent Advisory Committee for the national organization EdLeader 21.
Lynne and her husband, Dennis, live in Moorhead and have three children, Jeremy, Seth and Jennifer, and six grandchildren.
Update: Lynne Kovash died Feb. 14, 2019, at the age of 66.