Mary Strother

Mary Strother, an accomplished attorney and leader across a wide range of legal and public policy domains, serves as the chief legal, compliance, and risk officer for the university. She also directs the offices of labor relations and public safety.

As an officer of the university, Strother collaborates with senior leaders across the university’s global network to help facilitate, strengthen, and create partnerships, and to drive change in alignment with university priorities.

Before joining Northeastern, Strother served as First Assistant Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In that role, Strother oversaw investigations and enforcement in areas such as public protection, healthcare and fair competition, energy and environmental enforcement, and criminal prosecutions. She also played a key role within the Attorney General’s organizational development and inclusion office, establishing its employee well-being initiative.

Strother began her career as a clerk in San Francisco’s United States District Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She then spent two decades at the global law firm WilmerHale, including seven years as the firm’s deputy general counsel.

Named a 2020 Top Women of Law award recipient by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Strother has served on a range of boards and committees to develop women as leaders in the law, ensure ethical legal practice, and promote public trust and confidence in the judicial system.

Strother was a chair of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers from 2014 to 2015. She was also a member of the Boston Bar Association’s executive committee and served on the BBA’s Women’s Leadership and Advancement Forum and ethics committee.  She currently serves as co-chair of the SJC Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being.

A graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School, Strother is an  alumna partner, serving on the advisory committee for Princeton Internships in Civic Service. In that role, she mentors students in internships at nonprofits and public agencies.