Mary Ann McMorrow

Mary Ann McMorrow (née Grohwin; January 16, 1930 – February 23, 2013) was an Illinois Supreme Court chief justice. Career Mary Ann Grohwin was born to Roman and Emily Grohwin and grew up in a Roman Catholic household on the northwest side of Chicago. She attended Rosary College, now known as Dominican University. She received her law degree at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and was admitted practice law in Illinois in 1953. She was employed by the law firm of Riordan & Linklater. She was appointed Assistant State's Attorney of Cook County, assigned to the Criminal Division, and was the first woman to prosecute felony cases in Cook County. She was elected a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1976. By order of the Supreme Court of Illinois, McMorrow was assigned to the Illinois Appellate Court in 1985 and elected to that court in 1986. She was the first woman elected to serve as chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Appellate Court. She was elected to the Supreme Court of Illinois in 1992, the first woman to serve in its 173-year history. With her election as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois in May 2002, she became the first woman to head any of the three branches of state government. Awards She was the 1991 recipient of the "Medal of Excellence" award from Loyola University Chicago School of Law's Alumni Association. She also was awarded the Chicago Bar Association's Justice John Paul Stevens Award and the 1996 The Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation award for Distinguished Service to Law and Society.