Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona and the current secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has announced that she is stepping down from her post in President Obama’s Cabinet to take the position of president of the University of California system. The appointment must be approved by the university systems board of regents at a meeting next week.
In a statement on the Department of Homeland Security website, Napolitano said, “After four plus years of focusing on these challenges, I will be nominated as the next President of the University of California to play a role in educating our nation’s next generation of leaders.”
Napolitano became secretary of Homeland Security at the beginning of the Obama administration. At the time she was serving in her second term as governor of Arizona. Previously, she has served as attorney general of Arizona and as the U.S. Attorney for Arizona. As governor, she was the first woman to chair the National Governors Association.
Napolitano is a graduate of Santa Clara University in California. She earned her law degree at the University of Virginia.