Katherine K. Hanley

Katherine Keith 'Kate' Hanley (date of birth::March 5, 1943 - ) was the supervisor from the Providence District from 1986 to 1995 and Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from 1995 to 2003.

Hanley is a native of Missouri and took her bachelors degrees from the University of Missouri in French Civilization and Secondary Education in 1965. The following year she took her master's degree in Social Science from Harvard University. She married Edward John Hanley August 6, 1966. She and her husband moved to Virginia in 1968. In 1976, she and her husband moved to Garrett County in western Maryland, where they owned and operated a hardware store. They returned to Fairfax County in 1979.

Hanley was appointed to the Fairfax County School Board as the representative for the Providence District by Supervisor James M. Scott in June of 1984.

Hanley was first elected to the Board of Supervisors on July 15, 1986, defeating state Delegate Stephen E. Gordy in a special election to replace James M. Scott.

In the regular election held on November 3, 1987, Hanley easily defeated Republican challenger Myron E. Smith, earning her first full term on the board.

Hanley managed to hold onto her Providence district seat against Republican challenger Steve Armstrong in the November 6, 1991 election that saw Thomas M. Davis, III, Ernest J. Berger and Robert B. Dix, Jr. elected, forming a new Republican majority on the Board of Supervisors.

Following the election of Tom Davis to Congress in 1994, Hanley won a special election held on February 7, 1995 to become Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, defeating her Republican opponent, Springfield supervisor Elaine N. McConnell.

Hanley managed to hold on to the office in the regular election nine months later, riding a wave of moderate voter sentiment to defeat conservative Republican challenger Gary L. Jones.

The Republicans declined to field a candidate for the November 2, 1999 election, leading to Hanley's easy victory over independents Paul E. Gagnon, C. W. Levy, and Arthur G. Purves.

On March 18, 2003, Hanley announced she would not seek a third term as chairman and that she would explore a run against congressman James P. Moran, Jr.

Awards and Honors
The Katherine K. Hanley Public Service Award, given by Leadership Fairfax, was established in her honor.

The Katherine K. Hanley Family Shelter which opened on August 4, 2007, was named after Hanley, who began the process of building the shelter in 2003, during her last year as chairman of the Board of Supervisors.