Tri-College University NEW Leadership Institute will welcome Margaret Anderson Kelliher as Keynote Speaker at the Diane Meyer Keynote Address. 

Margaret Anderson Kelliher is a lifelong Minnesotan with deep roots in the Minnesota River Valley. The youngest of six children, she grew up on a dairy farm just outside of Mankato. Anderson Kelliher earned a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Gustavus Adolphus College and a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and was a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow. Anderson Kelliher was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1998. In her first term, she was named "Freshman Legislator of the Year" and quickly moved up the leadership ranks in the DFL House Caucus. In 2006, she was selected by her caucus to succeed Matt Entenza as Minority Leader. After the Democrats won control of the House in the 2006 election, she was selected by her caucus to be Speaker. In January 2009, she was re-elected Speaker for the 2009 - 2010 biennium. In 2010, Anderson Kelliher was endorsed by the DFL state convention to serve as the party's candidate for governor. In August of that year, Anderson Kelliher lost a narrow primary election to Mark Dayton, ending her campaign. Anderson Kelliher and her husband David kelliher, have two children, Patrick and Frances.

The Diane Meyer Keynote will be Friday, June 3, 2011, 6:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Century Theater. The event is open to the public with a public reception to follow the address.