Mary DeGenaro

Mary DeGenaro became the 159th justice of the Ohio Supreme Court by appointment of Gov. John R. Kasich, effective Jan. 28, 2018.

Justice DeGenaro served nearly 17 years as a judge on the Seventh District Court of Appeals in Youngstown prior to her Supreme Court appointment.

During her tenure on the Seventh District Court of Appeals, which began Feb. 9, 2001, she sat by assignment with the Ohio Supreme Court and other appellate districts.

Justice DeGenaro served in many roles outside the courtroom. She was an adjunct faculty member for the political science department at Youngstown State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree. She received her law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, where she interned with U.S. District Judge George White.

Admitted to the Ohio bar in 1986, she also was admitted to practice in the federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court and the Sixth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals.

Prior to her judgeship, she served on the Poland Village Council.

Justice DeGenaro was appointed by the late Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer to serve during 2002 and 2003 as a member of the Voter Education & Public Funding Working Group to further Judicial Impartiality: The Next Step Forum. This court-policy initiative addressed issues involving judicial races and preserving the integrity of Ohio’s judiciary.

She serves as Vice President of the Ohio Women's Bar Association and in 2005, she began serving as a founding member of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Specialty Certification Board, which administers the specialty bar examination and certification.

Involved in a variety of community organizations, Justice DeGenaro was involved in numerous organizations in her community, including the board of trustees of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Mahoning Valley Historical Society, Ohio Center for the Advancement of Women in Public Service at Cleveland State University, and Youngstown State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

She and her husband, Steve, have two sons.

Justice DeGenaro did not win election to a full term in November 2018, and her tenure on the Supreme Court ended on Jan. 1, 2019.