Katie G. Dorsett is a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly

North Carolina General Assembly

The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The General Assembly drafts and legislates the state laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes...

 representing the state's twenty-eighth Senate district since 2003. Her district includes constituents in Guilford

Guilford County, North Carolina

Guilford County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In 2010, the Census Bureau estimated the county's population to be 491,230. Its seat is Greensboro. Since 1938, an additional county court has been located in High Point, North Carolina, making Guilford one of only a handful...

 County. In the 2009-2010 session

North Carolina General Assembly of 2009-2010

The North Carolina General Assembly 2009–2010 session first convened in January 2009. Members of the North Carolina Senate and the North Carolina House of Representatives were elected in November 2008.-State House of Representatives:...

, Dorsett served as the Majority Whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

 in the Senate

North Carolina Senate

The North Carolina Senate is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly.Its prerogatives and powers are similar to those of the other house, the House of Representatives. Its members do, however, represent districts that are larger than those of their colleagues in the House. The...

.

Education and career

Katie Grays Dorsett was born in Shaw, Mississippi

Shaw, Mississippi

Shaw is a city in Bolivar and Sunflower Counties in the U.S. state of Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region. The named derived from an old Indian tribe northeast of this region. The population was 2,312 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

. She attended local public schools up to the eighth grade and then a private boarding school. Dorsett attended Alcorn State University

Alcorn State University

Alcorn State University is an historically black university comprehensive land-grant institution in Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871-History:...

 for her undergraduate work and then earned her master’s from Indiana University

Indiana University

Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

. After attending several schools in pursuit of her doctorate, she eventually finished at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro , also known as UNC Greensboro, is a public university in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. The university offers more than 100 undergraduate, 61 master's and 26...

 in 1975. Dorsett taught business at North Carolina State A&T University

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is a land-grant university located in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest publicly funded historically black college in the state of North Carolina.NC A&T is a constituent institution of the University of North...

 in Greensboro, North Carolina

Greensboro, North Carolina

Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...

, from 1955 until 1987.

Political career

After retiring from A&T after 32 years of service, she served two terms on the Greensboro City Council from 1983 to 1986, the first African American woman ever elected. She then served as a Democratic Guilford County Commissioner starting in 1990. Dorsett represented District 9 until 1992, when she was appointed Secretary of the Department of Administration by North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt

Jim Hunt

James Baxter Hunt Jr. is an American politician who was the 69th and 71st Governor of the state of North Carolina . He is the longest-serving governor in the state's history.-Early life:...

. This position made her the first African American woman to hold a North Carolina Cabinet

North Carolina Cabinet

The Cabinet is the group of unelected heads of the executive departments of North Carolina, which form part of the top executives in the government of the state. It is separate and distinct from the North Carolina Council of State, the members of which are elected state-wide, and which makes up...

 post. She was elected to the state Senate in 2002.

External links

• Civil Rights Greensboro: Katie G. Dorsett
• North Carolina General Assembly - Senator Katie G. Dorsett official NC Senate website
• Project Vote Smart - Senator Katie G. Dorsett (NC) profile
• Follow the Money - Katie G. Dorsett
  • 2008 2006 2004 2002 campaign contributions
• Oral History with Katie G. Dorsett