Service Above SelfSenator Mary Kramer served in the Iowa Senate after being elected in 1990. In 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002 she was elected by her colleagues and was first sworn in as President of the Senate in January of 1997, the first independently elected woman to fill the post.
President George W. Bush appointed Mary to serve as the chair of the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. Mary was also appointed to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean by President Bush.
Mary has served as a member of the Board of the Des Moines Club, the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Central Iowa, the Polk County Child Care Resource Center, Brenton Bank and Mercy Hospital. She is also a lifetime member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Senator Kramer retired from Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield after 18 years as Vice President of Human Resources and as Vice President of Community Investments. Mary and her husband, Kay Kramer, have been married 49 years.