Jackie Speier to speak at NDNU's 155th commencement
Jennifer Coleman
Issue date: 3/22/07 Section: News
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The former senator was the youngest member ever to serve on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, a position she held for six years.
Speier has since risen to assistant president pro tem of the State Senate as well as chair of several other committees. Since her first election to the California Legislature, she has seen more than 300 of the bills she introduced into law.
Speier ran for lieutenant governor in 2006 but lost by 3 percent of the vote.
A San Francisco native, Speier earned her B.A. from the University of California at Davis and did her graduate work at the University of Hastings College of Law.
Speier first gained national attention in 1978 on an ill-fated trip to Guyana to uncover facts on a human rights abuse allegation in a compound led by the Rev. Jim Jones.. It was there that she and her travel companions were ambushed on an airstrip, leaving Speier with five gun shot wounds. It was that brush with death that gave Speier said gave her a new outlook on life and politics.
"The Jonestown tragedy is a daily reminder that no one is guaranteed a tomorrow . . . This has absolutely molded my philosophy and my zest for work and for life."
The Hillsborough resident is the mother of two.
NDNU will hold its 155th commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 5, at 10:30 a.m. on Koret Field. Tickets are required.
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