An accomplished educator serving students and working families

A lifelong resident of Fort Lee and veteran educator, Democrat Dr. Joan Voss has served the children and working families of Bergen County her whole life.

Dr. Voss was sworn into serve in the General Assembly representing the 38th Legislative District in 2004. In the Assembly, Dr. Voss currently serves as vice-chair of the Education Committee; co-chair of the Joint Committee on Public Schools; and member of both the Assembly Regulated Professions and Assembly Higher Education committees.

Her other legislative appointments include: the Assembly Task Force on Vocational and Technical Education, and the Education Commission of the States; and the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL)Economic Development, Trade and Cultural Affairs Committee, and the NCSL Education Committee.

Assemblywoman Voss has sponsored numerous measures focusing on improving education and helping working families.  Most notably, she sponsored laws to require insurance companies to pay for mammograms and another law which requires insurance coverage for treatment of autism and other developmental disabilities. The Assemblywoman has been honored for her work on women’s issues and compulsive gambling.

Prior to joining the State Legislature, Dr. Voss served on the Fort Lee Borough Council for more than a decade. During her tenure, she served as council president, fire liaison, police liaison, and was a member of the ethics and planning boards.

For more than 41 years, Dr. Voss was a teacher and administrator at Fort Lee High School rising to the post of chair of the Social Studies, English, Science, Math and Guidance Departments. In 1983, Dr. Voss developed a humanities program to help prepare students for college in the areas of philosophy, ancient history, the classics, ethics, and European and Asian history and culture. She served as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University, St. Peter’s College and Edward Williams College, where the humanities course was offered for credit.

Dr. Voss is a member of the Fort Lee Education Foundation. Over the years, she has lead many student trips to Europe. In 1997, she received a grant to study the Holocaust on a trip with the New Jersey Commission on the Holocaust Studies to Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Holland and Israel. She received a grant in 1999 from the Korean Cultural Outreach Program to study Korean history and culture.

Dr. Voss has received many honors throughout the years, including the 38th District’s Woman of Achievement Award, the Fort Lee District Teacher of the Year Award, and the WWOR A+ for Teachers Award.

She is a life-long Fort Lee resident and earned a B.A. in Social Studies and English, and an M.A. from Montclair State. She earned 60 additional graduate credits in History and English, and then received a Doctorate in Education from Fordham University in 1998.

Assemblywoman Voss lives in Fort Lee and has one son, Theodore Paul.