Mary Verner is the current mayor of Spokane, Washington

Spokane, Washington

Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...

.

Education

Originally from Fitzgerald, Georgia

Fitzgerald, Georgia

Fitzgerald is a city in Ben Hill in the U.S. state of Georgia, and is the county seat of Ben Hill County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 9,053...

, Verner received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

 from Davidson College

Davidson College

Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...

, earned her Master of Arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 degree in environmental

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

 management from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, and a law degree from Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University is a private Roman Catholic university located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Founded in 1887 by the Society of Jesus, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and is named after the young Jesuit saint, Aloysius Gonzaga...

. She is the third woman to become mayor of Spokane and the first woman since a Mayor-Council

Mayor-council government

The mayor–council government system, sometimes called the mayor–commission government system, is one of the two most common forms of local government for municipalities...

 program was instituted in the place of a previous Council-Manager system.

City Service

Verner served on the City Council for four years before becoming mayor. Originally appointed to the council, Verner was subsequently elected to the position from which she ran for Mayor against an incumbent, Dennis Hession. Verner won with 53% of the vote, becoming Spokane's 43rd mayor on November 27, 2007. She is the city's fifth mayor in eight years.

External links

• Office of the Mayor