The William D. Reynolds Award - 2012: Hon. Kathleen A. Kearney ’77 S.M.C., ’80 J.D.

2012: Hon. Kathleen A. Kearney ’77 S.M.C., ’80 J.D.

With this award, Judge Kathleen A. Kearney ’77 S.M.C., ’80 J.D. was honored for three decades of work on behalf of abused and neglected children. 

Judge Kearney graduated from Saint Mary’s College in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science. After graduation, she attended Notre Dame Law School where her interest in the field of child welfare was sparked while working as the director of the Notre Dame Legal Aid and Defender Association. 

She began her legal career as a staff attorney for a child advocacy organization until joining the State Attorney’s Office in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as a sex crime and child abuse prosecutor in 1981. She was appointed to the bench in 1988 and served as a juvenile court judge for more than a decade. During her tenure, she chaired Florida’s Dependency Court Improvement Program, served on the faculty of both the Florida Judicial College and the College of Advanced Judicial Studies, and led the state’s first judicial mentoring program.

Former governor Jeb Bush appointed her as secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) in 1998. She was the first woman and judge to be appointed to serve in this capacity. 

Following her tenure at DCF, she joined the faculty of Florida State University’s College of Social Work, where she taught and advised doctoral and master’s students in social welfare policy and administration.