Jo Ann Harris

Jo Ann Harris (née Murray; May 18, 1933 – October 30, 2014) was a federal prosecutor and the first woman to head the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice. Among other accomplishments during her tenure, she created a special task force to investigate abortion clinic bombings, and was involved in the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing. In 2000, Harris and colleague Mary Frances Harkenrider were appointed as special counsels to investigate a confrontation between government lawyers and Monica Lewinsky that contributed to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Early life Harris was born in Macomb, Illinois and grew up in Galesburg, where she attended public schools. She majored in Journalism at the University of Iowa and graduated in 1955. Harris had a successful career in magazine journalism, working for publications including the Ladies Home Journal, Better Homes and Gardens and Time Magazine. She met her husband Greg Harris, whom she married in 1965, while working at Time. Harris died in 2014 in The Bronx, New York, aged 81 from lung cancer.