Mary Pipines Easley is an American attorney, academic, and former university administrator who, as the wife of Governor Mike Easley, served as First Lady of North Carolina from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman to maintain her own career while serving as first lady, and also the first Catholic and first Greek American to serve in this position. As first lady, Easley championed educational, artistic, and public health initiatives in North Carolina. She focused on promoting childhood immunization, access to public libraries, and teacher recruitment across the state. An avid arts patron, she partnered with the North Carolina Museum of Art to help procure funding and bring in international exhibits, including exhibits on Monet and Auguste Rodin. Prior to serving as first lady, Easley was one of the first women to serve as an assistant district attorney in eastern North Carolina.
She served on the faculty at both North Carolina Central University and North Carolina State University, teaching law, police management, and running a public safety center. In 2009 she and her husband became the subjects of a financial scandal regarding the misuse of campaign funds. She was later fired from North Carolina State University after it was revealed that she had obtained her job, with an annual salary of $175,000, with the help of her husband's influence as governor.
Early life and education
Easley is the daughter of James and Ann Pipines. She has a sister, Irene. Easley is of Greek descent, the granddaughter of Greek immigrants, and was raised in northern New Jersey.
Easley attended Wake Forest University to study political science, graduating magna cum laude in 1972. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa while an undergraduate. In 1975 she obtained a J.D. degree from the Wake Forest University School of Law, where she was a member of Phi Delta Phi.
Career
After graduating from law school at Wake Forest, Easley worked as an assistant district attorney for Pender and New Hanover counties, working out of the office in Burgaw. She was one of the first woman to serve as an assistant district attorney in eastern North Carolina. Prior to moving to Raleigh, Easley ran a private law firm in Southport, North Carolina.
During her husband's unsuccessful campaign for the United States Senate in 1990, she and her husband were accused of breaching ethical standards since she represented drug offenders whom her husband's office prosecuted.
Easley worked as a law professor at North Carolina Central University, teaching trial practice, trial advocacy, and appellate advocacy. She also supervised law students representing criminal defendants through the university's clinic and was a faculty member for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy's southeast region. Easley helped lead a course in police management at North Carolina State University, joining the administration there in 2005 to run the university's Center for Public Safety Leadership. She was hired at North Carolina State University as an executive-in-residence and a senior lecturer, running a program for emergency rescue workers and coordinating law education initiatives. She built the Millenium Seminar series at North Carolina State, bringing in guest speakers including David Gergen, Robert Reich, Charlie Rose, Senator Lindsey Graham, Myles Brand, Bill Bradley, and Donna Shalala.
First Lady of North Carolina
Easley became First Lady of North Carolina in 2001, when her husband was elected as the 72nd Governor of North Carolina. She was the first woman to maintain a separate career while serving as First Lady, and also the first Catholic to serve in the role.
As First Lady, Easley promoted the arts and education, and led a campaign against underage drinking called The First Ladies' Initiative to Keep Children Alcohol Free. She established initiatives in teacher recruitment and infant immunization with a focus on North Carolinians who speak English as a second language. Easley served as the spokesperson for McDonald's Immunize for Healthy Lives Campaign, speaking to groups around the state about the importance of immunizing children in a timely manner. Easley led the North Carolina Institute of Medicine's Latino Health Task Force, a partnership between the institute and El Pueblo, Inc., as honorary chair.
In 2002 she served as the spokesperson for the State Library of North Carolina's The Very Best Place to Start initiative, going on a state-wide speaking tour to ensure library access to children in North Carolina.