Janet Napolitano Biography Quotes 28 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Janet Ann Napolitano was born on November 29, 1957, in the United States and grew up in a family that moved for her father's academic career before settling in the Southwest. She spent formative years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where strong public schools and a culture of civic involvement shaped her interests. After high school, she attended Santa Clara University, earning a degree in political science, and went on to the University of Virginia School of Law. Early mentors and professors impressed on her the public-service possibilities of the law, a theme that would define her career.

Early Legal Career
After law school, Napolitano clerked for Judge Mary M. Schroeder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, an experience that honed her analytical approach and broadened her network in the Western legal community. She then joined the Phoenix firm Lewis and Roca, where she became a partner. In private practice, she took on complex civil matters and, notably, served as an attorney for Anita Hill during the 1991 Senate confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas, a highly public and formative test of judgment under pressure. The combination of high-stakes litigation and public scrutiny prepared her for leadership roles at the intersection of law and policy.

U.S. Attorney and Arizona Attorney General
President Bill Clinton appointed Napolitano United States Attorney for the District of Arizona in 1993. In that post she oversaw federal prosecutions across a border state grappling with immigration crimes, drug trafficking, and public corruption. Her office was drawn into aspects of the Oklahoma City bombing investigation with Arizona ties, a case that required coordination with the FBI and the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. The work deepened her expertise in interagency cooperation and complex investigations.

In 1998 she was elected Arizona Attorney General, taking office the following year. As the state's chief legal officer she emphasized consumer protection, youth and family safety, and cross-border crime. She worked with law-enforcement leaders and county attorneys around the state to modernize victim services, and she emerged as a pragmatic coalition-builder who could navigate Arizona's often-split political environment alongside figures such as then-Governor Jane Dee Hull and U.S. Senator John McCain.

Governor of Arizona
Napolitano was elected Governor of Arizona in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. As governor from 2003 to 2009, she prioritized K, 12 education, university research and financial aid, and pragmatic border security measures. She used the tools of executive leadership, including the line-item veto, to press for balanced budgets and investments in infrastructure during periods of both growth and fiscal strain. Her administration confronted immigration and security challenges that required partnership with federal agencies, sheriffs, and local officials. When she resigned to join the federal cabinet in 2009, Secretary of State Jan Brewer succeeded her as governor, reflecting Arizona's constitutional line of succession.

Secretary of Homeland Security
President Barack Obama nominated Napolitano to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2009. As secretary she managed a sprawling portfolio that included FEMA, the Coast Guard, TSA, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Early in her tenure she coordinated responses to the H1N1 pandemic and major natural disasters, and worked with Admiral Thad Allen and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate on disaster readiness and response. Following the 2009 attempted airline bombing on Christmas Day, she pushed for improvements in aviation security and intelligence-sharing across DHS components and with foreign partners.

Immigration policy became a central part of her tenure. Working closely with USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas and the White House, she issued the 2012 memorandum establishing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a policy that provided temporary protection and work authorization to eligible young people brought to the United States as children. Her term also saw expanded cybersecurity efforts and infrastructure protection initiatives. She was succeeded at DHS by Jeh Johnson; her predecessor had been Michael Chertoff.

University of California Leadership
In 2013 Napolitano became the 20th president of the University of California, leading a ten-campus public research system with a global footprint. She worked with the UC Board of Regents, whose leaders included Sherry Lansing and John A. Perez, and collaborated with California governors Jerry Brown and later Gavin Newsom to stabilize funding after years of austerity. Her administration launched systemwide Title IX reforms, revamped responses to sexual harassment, and expanded services for first-generation and immigrant students. She championed research in clean energy and health sciences and announced the UC Carbon Neutrality Initiative, aiming for systemwide climate leadership through innovation and procurement.

Napolitano also positioned UC as a defender of students with DACA status. Under her leadership, the university became a plaintiff challenging federal efforts to rescind DACA, an unusual posture for a public university that reflected her DHS experience and the lived reality of UC students. Her tenure was not without controversy: a state audit criticized certain budget practices and survey management; she acknowledged missteps, implemented changes, and worked with regents to improve transparency.

Publications, Teaching, and Later Work
After stepping down as UC president in 2020, Napolitano joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, teaching public policy and national security. She founded the Center for Security in Politics to connect scholarship with practitioners on issues from cybersecurity to emergency management. Drawing on her DHS years, she authored How Safe Are We? Homeland Security Since 9/11, offering an insider's assessment of the department's strengths, vulnerabilities, and future challenges. She continues to advise on governance, risk, and institutional resilience, and she is a frequent voice in discussions that bring together former cabinet officials, university leaders, and civil-society advocates.

Legacy and Personal Life
Napolitano's career spans state and federal leadership, law enforcement, and higher education. The people around her at pivotal moments, Judge Mary M. Schroeder in her formative clerkship; President Bill Clinton in her appointment as U.S. Attorney; Arizona colleagues such as Jane Dee Hull, John McCain, and Jan Brewer during her state leadership; President Barack Obama, Alejandro Mayorkas, Craig Fugate, and Jeh Johnson during her DHS tenure; and UC regents and California governors Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom during her university presidency, underscore the breadth of her collaborations. Known for pragmatism and steadiness under pressure, she has focused on building institutions capable of managing risk, protecting communities, and widening educational opportunity.

She has kept her personal life largely private and has long been regarded as a diligent, hands-on executive who mentors emerging public servants. From prosecutorial work and national security to university governance, Napolitano's trajectory reflects a commitment to practical, non-ideological problem-solving, with an enduring emphasis on public institutions as instruments for civic progress.

Our collection contains 28 quotes who is written by Janet, under the main topics: Justice - Learning - Freedom - Nature - Peace.