Gregoire, Christine O. (Christine O'Grady), 1947-

<p>Christine O'Grady Gregoire (/ˈɡrɛɡwɑːr/; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004 and again in 2008. She is the second female governor of Washington; Gregoire chaired the National Governors Association for the 2010–2011 term. She also served on the Governors' Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C.</p>

<p>Gregoire was born in Adrian, Michigan. She was raised in Auburn, Washington, by her mother, Sybil Grace Jacobs (née Palmer), who worked as a short-order cook. After graduating from Auburn Senior High School, she attended the University of Washington in Seattle, graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts in speech and sociology. At UW, she became a member of the Sigma Iota chapter of the Kappa Delta sorority. She then attended law school at Gonzaga University in Spokane, receiving her Juris Doctor in 1977.</p>

<p>Gregoire went to work as an assistant attorney general in the office of State Attorney General Slade Gorton, a Republican. As an assistant attorney general, Gregoire concentrated on child-abuse cases, coordinating with social workers to get children removed from abusive family situations and placed with relatives or foster homes, and was later appointed as the first female Deputy Attorney General. In 1988, at the end of his first term as governor of Washington, Booth Gardner appointed Gregoire director of the Washington Department of Ecology. During her tenure, Gregoire worked with Gardner to reach an agreement with the federal government to clean up nuclear waste at the Hanford nuclear site.</p>

<p>Chris Gregoire became Washington’s 22nd governor in 2005.</p>

<p>As governor, Gregoire led her state through several billion dollars in reductions and a transformative agenda to build a 21st government. She focused on education, modernizing pension and health care costs and streamlining government services and delivery.</p>

<p>Prior to serving as governor, Gregoire served three terms as attorney general—the first woman to be elected to the position in Washington. She led a statewide program that resulted in a comprehensive reform of the state’s juvenile system, fought to pass tougher ethics laws for state government, sought alternatives to litigation for legal disputes and to protect privacy and combat identity theft. Gregoire was the lead negotiator in the groundbreaking settlement of state lawsuits against the tobacco industry. Gregoire was appointed in 1988 to serve as director of the Washington Department of Ecology, where she negotiated the safe cleanup and permanent storage of radioactive wastes at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.</p>

<p>Gregoire was raised in Auburn, Washington. After graduating from Auburn High School, she attended the University of Washington where she graduated with a teaching certificate and a bachelor of arts degree in speech and sociology. She received her law degree in 1977 from Gonzaga University and an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Gonzaga in 1995.</p>

<p>Christine Gregoire is the CEO for Challenge Seattle, an organization comprised of 17 major international companies and non-profits located in the Seattle region. Challenge Seattle is providing leadership to ensure greater Seattle is one of the most innovative and globally competitive regions in the world.</p>

<p>Previously, Gregoire served for two terms as governor of the State of Washington with a $32B biennial budget and over 60,000 employees. In her first term as governor, she created the Department of Early Learning and led on reforms to the K-12 system and investment in higher education. Gregoire led the state in a historical investment in infrastructure including the building of the largest floating bridge in the world and the largest transportation tunnel to open up Seattle's waterfront.</p>

<p>Prior to becoming governor, Gregoire served for three terms as attorney general for the state. Prior to becoming attorney general, Gregoire served four years as the director of the State Department of Ecology.</p>