Former Governor Martha Layne Collins grew up in Bagdad, never dreaming she’d one day become Governor.  The Governor was a school teacher who got her start in politics when Wendell Ford asked her to volunteer for him.  After helping others in their campaigns for political office, Collins decided that it was her turn.  In 1975, she succeeded in her campaign for the position of  Supreme Court Clerk.  She was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1979 and four years later, she won the race for Governor.

  During her administration Governor Collins chose economic development and education as the issues that needed attention in order to improve the lives of Kentuckians.  The results were a $300 million school improvement package and a new Toyota automobile plant in Georgetown.  Ten years later Toyota chose Kentucky as the home of its North American headquarters.

  After leaving the Governor’s office, Martha Layne Collins served as president of St. Catharine College for six years.  She also served as the Executive-in-Residence at the University of Louisville’s School of Business, and as the director of the International Business and Management Center at the University of Kentucky’s Carol Martin Gatton College of Business and Economics.  Today, she serves as an Executive Scholar in Residence at Georgetown College, serves on several national boards, and enjoys the company of her grandchildren.

View a Martha Layne Collins campaign button.
Visit the site of the National Governor’s Association.
Read Gov. Collins' speech to the Democratic Women's Club.

	Listen to a clip from an interview with Martha Layne Collins.  To view the transcription while you listen, click on "clip" and then on "transcription." View a transcription of this clip.