Kathleen Sebelius biography

Synopsis

Kathleen Sebelius was born May 15, 1948, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was director of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association (1977–1987). As a Democrat, Sebelius entered politics as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives for eight years, from 1986 to 1994. She then served as the Kansas Insurance Commissioner from 1994 to 2002. She was elected Governor of Kansas in 2002 and re-elected in 2006.

Profile

Politician and Governor of Kansas. Born Kathleen Gilligan on May 15, 1948, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the daughter of former Ohio Governor John J. Gilligan. When Kathleen was elected Governor of Kansas, they became the first father-daughter governors in U.S. history.

Raised Roman Catholic, Kathleen attended Summit Country Day School, a Roman Catholic secondary school. She graduated from Trinity Washington University, a Roman Catholic university in Washington, D.C., with a B.A. degree in 1970. She earned a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of Kansas in 1977.

In 1974, Kathleen married K. Gary Sebelius, a federal magistrate judge and the son of a former Republican U.S. Representative, and moved to Kansas. They have two sons, Ned was born in 1982 and John was born in 1985.

Sebelius worked as an aide with the Kansas Department of Corrections (1975-77) and earned a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of Kansas in 1977. She was also the director of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association (1977-87).

As a Democrat, Sebelius entered politics as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives for eight years, from 1986 to 1994. She then served as the Kansas Insurance Commissioner from 1994 to 2002. She was elected Governor of Kansas in 2002 and re-elected in 2006.