Janet Napolitano

Who is Janet Napolitano?

Janet Ann Napolitano is an American politician, lawyer, and university administrator who currently serves as the president of the University of California system. Napolitano was previously the United States Secretary of Homeland Security in the administration of President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. She was also the 21st Governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009.

Prior to her election as Governor, she served as Attorney General of Arizona from 1999 to 2002. She was the first woman and the 23rd person to serve in that office. Napolitano is the 1977 Truman Scholar from New Mexico.

Napolitano is the fourth person to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security, a post that was created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Forbes ranked her as the world's ninth most powerful woman in 2012. In 2008, she was cited by The New York Times to be among the women most likely to become the first female President of the United States. Napolitano resigned at the end of August 2013 to become the first woman to be President of the University of California system. Napolitano is cited among news sources to be a potential candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 election.