Education
In 1979, she graduated from Edina-East High School. In 1983, she graduated from Bethel University, earning a bachelor"s degree in political science, summa cum laude.
In 1979, she graduated from Edina-East High School. In 1983, she graduated from Bethel University, earning a bachelor"s degree in political science, summa cum laude.
The wife of Governor Tim Pawlenty, she was First Lady of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. She previously worked as a private-practice attorney and in 2009 became director at a medical nonprofit. Mary Anderson was raised in Edina, Minnesota.
She received her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School—where she met Tim Pawlenty—in 1986.
Following graduation, Anderson practiced law in Houston, Texas for one year. She then returned to Minnesota to marry Tim Pawlenty.
They settled in Eagan, Minnesota. In 1994, Mary was appointed as a judge of the Dakota County District Court in Hastings, Minnesota by Governor Arne Carlson.
The family remained at their Eagan home instead of taking the Governor"s Residence after Tim Pawlenty was elected Governor of Minnesota in 2002 due to Mary"s requirement to stay in her judicial district.
In January 2007, Judge Pawlenty announced that she was leaving the bench on February 12, 2007. She began work at the National Arbitration Forum shortly thereafter as its general counsel in charge of the National Arbitration Forum"s legal affairs However, less than a month later, she quit her position with National Arbitration Forum.
Pawlenty then took a position with the Gilbert Mediation Center.
In January 2009, Pawlenty left the Gilbert Mediation Center to start a new position as director of medical diplomacy at Children"s HeartLink, an international medical nonprofit.
