Kathleen J. "Kathy" Sheran (born May 18, 1947) is a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

politician and former member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are h ...

. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Repr ...

(DFL), she represented District 19, which included portions of Blue Earth, Le Sueur, and Nicollet counties in the south central part of the state.

Early life, education, and career

Sheran is the daughter of

Robert Sheran Robert J. Sheran (January 2, 1916 – January 25, 2012) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court by Governor Wendell Anderson, serving from December 1973 to December 1981. He p ...

, who is a former chief justice and

associate justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

of the

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court was first assemb ...

, and a former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint ...

. She graduated from Convent of the Visitation School in Mendota Heights in 1965, then attended the

College of Saint Teresa The College of Saint Teresa was a Catholic women's college in Winona, Minnesota. Previously a women's seminary, it became a college in 1907 and was operated by the Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota until its closing in 1989. Hi ...

in Winona, receiving her

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Nursing. She later earned her M.S. degree at Mankato State University (now called Minnesota State University). Sheran is a registered nurse by profession and former assistant professor of nursing at

Minnesota State University Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 123,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...

. Sheran has been active in Mankato city government for many years. She served briefly as mayor, and was a member of the city council for 16 years, during which time she was council president and

Mayor Pro Tem ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

. She is a former member of the city's Civil Service Commission, the Economic Development Authority, the Housing Redevelopment Authority, and the Human Rights Commission.

Minnesota Senate

Sheran was first elected to the Senate in 2006, and was re-elected in 2010 and 2012. She served as a

majority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

during the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 bienniums. Her special legislative concerns include health care, education, tax policy, agriculture, transportation, and the environment. She did not seek re-election in 2016.

Personal life

Sheran has served on various state and local boards and committees. She was a member of the Minnesota Governor's Judicial Selection Commission and the Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Immanuel-St. Joseph's Hospital in

, which is an owned affiliate of the Mayo Clinic. She is also co-chair of Generations of Care, a community partnership in support of Immanuel-St. Joseph's Heart and Cancer Centers. She also hosts "Community Conversations," a

Public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

cable TV show in the Mankato area. She has also been honored as a Woman of Distinction by YWCA Mankato.

References

External links

Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Senator Kathy SheranProject Vote Smart - Senator Kathy Sheran Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheran, Kathleen 1947 births Living people College of Saint Teresa alumni Minnesota State University, Mankato alumni Minnesota State University, Mankato faculty Democratic Party Minnesota state senators People from Mankato, Minnesota Politicians from Mankato, Minnesota Women state legislators in Minnesota 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American women academics