Jeannette A. McCarthy
Doctor of Laws
A lifelong resident of Waltham, Massachusetts, Jeannette A. McCarthy has been serving the people of her hometown through public office and volunteer work for four decades. Her late mother worked at Brandeis for 25 years in the campus kitchen, becoming co-chair baker.
McCarthy, a member of Waltham High School’s Class of 1971, went on to graduate magna cum laude from Boston College with a degree in biology. After working as a bookkeeper in the family business to save money for graduate school, she earned a juris doctor, cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School, and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Northeastern University.
Following several years in private law practice, McCarthy served on the Waltham School Committee from 1986 to 1991. She worked in the city’s Law Department as a staff attorney, assistant city solicitor and city solicitor from 1992 to 2000 and served on the Waltham City Council from 2002 to 2003. In 2004 she was elected Mayor of Waltham, a position she has held for the past 22 years.
As mayor, McCarthy has dedicated herself to improving public education, city services and quality of life in Waltham. During her years in office, she has worked to expand and preserve open space, including by extending the Mass Central Rail Trail, and overseen the $375 million construction of an innovative high school that combines academics with vocational programs.
McCarthy is Waltham’s only elected official to have worked in all three branches of the city’s government, and the first woman to serve as mayor. In 2014, her fellow mayors from across the Bay State elected her president of the Massachusetts Mayors’ Association. She has received honors from numerous other organizations, including the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, for her support for children and public education.