Karen Humphrey is a former local news reporter, who later served as mayor of

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

between 1989 and 1993. She was the first female mayor of Fresno, and as of 2019, the last Democratic mayor the city has had. She lost re-election to businessman Jim Patterson, not only losing in the primary, but only receiving 18% of the vote, and finishing third overall.

Education

Humphrey obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

and a

master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

and

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

from

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

Careers

The start of Humphrey's career and professional life began when she was a news reporter and anchor for local news stations in

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

and

. She was the first woman reporter on air in Fresno. In 1979 she decided to take her talents elsewhere and was elected to the

Fresno City Council Fresno City Council is the legislative body of Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley regi ...

, where she served two terms. After her career as mayor, Humphrey worked in educational policy at the state level. She became Executive Director of the California Postsecondary Education Commission in 2009, and served in that role until 2011 when the commission was disbanded.https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/SB_0087_Line_Item_Veto.pdf (p.7) Since her move to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, she has focused her attention on getting more women into public office.

Family

Humphrey was married to Ken Clarke, and she resides in Sacramento.

References

External links

* Living people American television reporters and correspondents California Democrats Mayors of Fresno, California Women mayors of places in California 1945 births 21st-century American women People from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia {{California-mayor-stub