Matt Mead
A pragmatic Wyoming Republican who governed as a steady hand, focusing on economic diversification and the state's vast energy resources.
Born 1962 (age 64)·Governor of Wyoming from 2011 to 2019·Birthday: March 11·Baby Boomers
Biography
Matt Mead brought the sensibility of a former federal prosecutor and fourth-generation rancher to the Wyoming governor's office. The grandson of former Governor and Senator Clifford Hansen, politics was in his blood, but his approach was decidedly unflashy and data-driven. Elected in 2010, he took the helm of a state heavily reliant on mineral revenues just as energy markets began to fluctuate. His tenure was marked by a push to broaden Wyoming's economic base, investing in sectors like technology and tourism while fiercely defending the state's coal, oil, and gas industries in federal courts. He navigated complex issues like wildlife management and public lands access with a focus on consensus, often finding himself at odds with more ideological factions within his own party. After two terms, limited by state law, he returned to private law practice, leaving behind a record of fiscal conservatism and a deliberate strategy to prepare Wyoming for a post-boom future.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Matt was born in 1962, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Matt Was Born
The biggest hits of 1962
#1 Movie
Lawrence of Arabia
Best Picture
Lawrence of Arabia
#1 TV Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Matt's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1962Born
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1967Started school
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1975Became a teenager
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Could drive
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1980Could vote
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Turned 21
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1992Turned 30
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 40
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 50
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2022Turned 60
Russia invades Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II dies
Gas: $3.97/galHome: $348,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"As It Was" — Harry StylesBest Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
2026Age 64 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Served as the 32nd Governor of Wyoming from 2011 to 2019, winning election with the largest margin of victory in the state's history at the time.
- Launched ENDOW, a 20-year initiative to diversify Wyoming's economy beyond its traditional energy and mineral sectors.
- As U.S. Attorney for Wyoming from 2001 to 2007, he oversaw federal prosecutions following the 9/11 attacks.
- Successfully advocated for and signed legislation creating the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust to conserve habitat and working agricultural lands.
Did You Know?
He is a direct descendant of one of Wyoming's founding political families; his grandfather, Clifford Hansen, was both governor and a U.S. senator.
He clerked for Judge Alan B. Johnson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming after law school.
He and his wife own and operate a cattle ranch near Fort Laramie, Wyoming.
He was appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in 2020.
“Wyoming's strength is in its people and its working landscapes.”
