A 27-year-old New Jersey native who has sprinted up the ladder of success has been named chief operating officer of New York City's Department of Education,

the New York Post reports

.

Andrew Buher, a Lawrence native, graduated from Rider in 2007, then received his master's degree from Columbia University in 2010. He started at the department in 2010 as a "special assistant" and in his 30 months on the job has more than doubled his salary and received three promotions, the Post reported.

The New York City school system is the nation's largest.

Buher's predecessor, Veronica Conforme, earned an annual salary of $202,000 as COO, though the department said Buher's salary was still being determined, according to the Post report.

The political science and public policy major briefly attended Tulane University in New Orleans before returning home after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

As a senior at Rider, Buher became the first student from the college to receive a presidential fellowship from the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress in Washington, D.C.

He also interned as a policy adviser in the office of then-New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and worked with several charter schools in New York City.

Buher is married to Caroline Burns — also a New Jersey native and Columbia graduate.

MORE NATIONAL NEWS