Honorable Janine Geske

Honorable Janine P. Geske served as a Milwaukee County Circuit Judge from 1981-1993 and as a Justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1993–1998. From 1998–2013, she was a Distinguished Professor of Law at Marquette University, where she founded and directed the school’s endowed Andrew Center for Restorative Justice.

After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Beloit College in 1971 and her law degree from Marquette in 1975, Geske became the chief staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, where she worked until 1979. She was an assistant professor at Marquette University Law School from 1978–1981. Beginning in 1981, Geske was appointed and then elected to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, until she was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1993. She won election to the court in 1994 and resigned from the bench in 1998. From February to May 2002, she served as the interim county executive for Milwaukee County, and from 2002–2003 she served as interim dean of the Marquette Law School.

Throughout her career, she has received many awards including: The Milwaukee Bar Association’s Lawyer of the Year Award and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, Marquette Law School’s and Marquette University’s Alumna of the Year, and several others including faith-based peace, justice, and service awards.

Geske serves as vice chair of the Better Way Foundation, chair of the Froedtert Hospital Foundation, as well as serving as a member of the following Boards: Marquette University, Catholic Mobilizing Network, and Awake. She previously served on the Development Committee of Sojourner Family Peace Center, as chair of the Marquette University High School Board and on the boards of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Beloit College and the OPUS Prize Foundation.