Barbara Mikulski
Barbara Mikulski | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Official portrait, 2011 | |||||||||||||
| United States Senator from Maryland | |||||||||||||
| In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 2017 | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Charles Mathias | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Chris Van Hollen | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 3rd district | |||||||||||||
| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1987 | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Paul Sarbanes | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Ben Cardin | ||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||
| Born | Barbara Ann Mikulski July 20, 1936 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Political party | Democratic | ||||||||||||
| Education | Mount Saint Agnes College (BA) University of Maryland, Baltimore (MSW) | ||||||||||||
| Signature | |||||||||||||
Barbara Ann Mikulski (/mɪˈkʌlski/ mih-KUL-skee; born July 20, 1936) is an American politician and social worker who served as a United States senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she also served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987. Mikulski is the third-longest-serving female United States Senator,[1][2] and the longest-serving U.S. Senator in Maryland history.[a]
Born and raised in the Highlandtown neighborhood of East Baltimore,[3] Mikulski attended Mount Saint Agnes College and the University of Maryland School of Social Work.[4][5] Originally a social worker and community organizer, she was elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1971 after delivering a highly publicized address on the "ethnic movement" in America.[5] She was elected to the House of Representatives in 1976, and in 1986, she became the first woman elected to the United States Senate from Maryland.[6]
From the death of Senator Daniel Inouye in December 2012 until 2015, Mikulski chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee. She was the first woman and first Marylander to hold the position.[7][8] At her retirement, she was the ranking minority member of the committee. She also served on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence.
On March 2, 2015, Mikulski announced that she would retire after five terms in the Senate and would not seek reelection in 2016.[9][10] In January 2017, Mikulski joined Johns Hopkins University as a professor of public policy and advisor to University President Ronald J. Daniels.[11]
- ^ O'Keefe, Ed (March 21, 2012). "Barbara Mikulski honored as longest-serving woman in Congress". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
- ^ Dana Bash and Abigail Crutchfield. "Longest-serving female lawmaker says goodbye". CNN.
- ^ "About Senator Mikulski – The Supernova Senator: The Work and Life of Barbara A. Mikulski". Retrieved June 6, 2025.
- ^ "Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Md. will not seek a 6th term". WUSA9. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
- ^ a b "MIKULSKI, Barbara Ann – Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
- ^ "Barbara Mikulski, Maryland Women's Hall of Fame". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
- ^ Boles, Corey (December 19, 2012). "Mikulski to Take Appropriations Post as Leahy Stays at Judiciary". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
- ^ "Barbara Mikulski, first female chair of Senate Appropriations, returns to minority". The Washington Post. November 16, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
- ^ Gaudiano, Nicole (March 2, 2015). "Longtime Sen. Barbara Mikulski to retire". USA Today.
- ^ Grier, Peter (March 2, 2015). "Sen. Barbara Mikulski retiring: Will Martin O'Malley run?". The Christian Science Monitor.
- ^ "Former Sen. Barbara Mikulski, now a Johns Hopkins professor, to receive two honorary degrees". The Hub. May 12, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).