Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy will give the commencement address to graduates of Zane State College in May.

The College’s 49th commencement ceremony is Thursday, May 9, at Secrest Auditorium in Downtown Zanesville.

The speaker, Kennedy, is currently Ohio’s 154th Supreme Court Justice and the state’s 9th female to serve on the court.

Kennedy began her career serving justice as a police officer in the City of Hamilton. From there, she went on to study law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law before beginning her legal practice as a solo practitioner.

In her early career, Kennedy split time between her private practice and serving part-time as magistrate in the Butler County Area Courts and as special counsel for former Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery.

In 1999, Kennedy was elected to the Butler County Court of Common Pleas Domestic Relations Division, where she would later serve as the court’s administrative judge from 2005 until 2012.

In 2012, Kennedy was elected to Ohio’s Supreme Court where she has served ever since.

Throughout Kennedy’s career, she has been the recipient of several awards, including the AMVETS Department of Ohio 2018 Past Department Commanders’ Civil Servant of the Year Award, The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution Silver Good Citizenship Medal in 2018, Leadership Ohio’s 2016 Community Leadership Award and the University of Cincinnati College of Law’s 2014 Nicholas Longworth, III Alumni Achievement Award.

In 2015, Kennedy was a featured judge in “Trends in the Judiciary: Interviews with the Judges Across the Globe.”

Two year prior, Kennedy was named one of the Cincinnati Enquirer’s 13 professional women to watch in 2013.

In 2006, Kennedy was awarded Judge of the Year.

Due to limited space, the commencement ceremony is only open to graduates and their ticket-holding guests.