Editor's Note: This article has been corrected from its original version. The article incorrectly stated that Yvette McGee Brown is the first black state justice. She is the first black female Ohio justice.
After a failed bid for Ohio's lieutenant governor position, former Ohio University trustee Yvette McGee Brown now has second chance to work in state government as a justice on the Ohio Supreme Court.
McGee Brown, who had served on OU's Board of Trustees since July 2009, became the state's first black female Supreme Court justice when she began her term Jan. 1. Gov. Ted Strickland appointed McGee Brown to fill the seat vacated by Maureen O'Connor, who was elected as Ohio's chief justice.
I am hugely honored and actually humbled when I think about how historic the appointment is
McGee Brown said. I'm really honored the governor had confidence in me to make the appointment.
McGee Brown resigned from OU's Board of Trustees in early December because she cannot serve on the Board and the Supreme Court at the same time, she said.
(Resigning) was bittersweet she said. I loved my service on OU's board but as I told the president
I plan to stay engaged as an active alum and sit on any advisory committees or ad hoc committees if he thought I would be helpful.
The governor's office has yet to appoint another trustee to fill McGee Brown's now-vacant seat, but the university expects that the board will gain a new member in the near future, said Becky Watts, chief of staff to OU President Roderick McDavis.
President McDavis and the entire university are grateful to Ms. McGee Brown for her excellent service as an (OU) trustee
Watts said in a statement. In addition
we are very proud that this (OU) alumna has been appointed to the Ohio Supreme Court ... (and) that her excellent service to the people of the state of Ohio will continue in this important new role.
McGee Brown was a judge in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court from 1993 to 2002 and has been a lawyer for 25 years, she said. She graduated from OU in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and earned a law degree from Ohio State University in 1985.
After Strickland lost his bid for re-election in November, he asked his running mate, McGee Brown, if she might be interested in another state government position.
We had a series of conversations about what the future was
McGee Brown said. I've always loved the law and I had committed to go back into public service when I joined the governor in his campaign this year.
McGee Brown will serve until 2012, when she must run in a special election to retain her seat on the Ohio Supreme Court, she said. If she is successful in that election, she will run again in 2014 for a full six-year term.
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Pamela Engel
