VIA DHS.gov

Secretary Janet Napolitano

Janet
Napolitano was sworn in on January 21, 2009 as the third Secretary of
the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to joining the Obama
Administration, Napolitano was mid-way through her second term as
Governor of the State of Arizona. While Governor, Napolitano became the
first woman to chair the National Governors Association, where she was
instrumental in creating the Public Safety Task Force and the Homeland
Security Advisors Council. She also chaired the Western Governors
Association. Napolitano previously served as the Attorney General of
Arizona and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.

Napolitano’s homeland security background is extensive. As U.S.
Attorney, she helped lead the domestic terrorism investigation into the
Oklahoma City Bombing. As Arizona Attorney General, she helped write
the law to break up human smuggling rings. As Governor, she implemented
one of the first state homeland security strategies in the nation,
opened the first state counter-terrorism center and spearheaded efforts
to transform immigration enforcement. She’s also been a pioneer in
coordinating federal, state, local and bi-national homeland security
efforts, and presided over large scale disaster relief efforts and
readiness exercises to ensure well-crafted and functional emergency
plans.

Napolitano graduated from Santa Clara University in 1979, where she
won a Truman Scholarship, and received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1983
from the University of Virginia School of Law. After law school she
served as a law clerk for Judge Mary M. Schroeder of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit before joining the law firm of Lewis and
Roca.