George Jepsen

George Jepsen is the 24th Attorney General to serve Connecticut since the office was established in 1897. He took office on Jan. 5, 2011. Before taking office, Jepsen was a practicing lawyer for more than 26 years, most recently at the Hartford law firm of Cowdery, Ecker and Murphy, LCC, in the areas of corporate transactions and civil and appellate litigation. Jepsen began his legal career as general counsel to Carpenters Local 210 in Norwalk. Jepsen was born in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Nov. 23, 1954, the second of Chuck and Rita Jepsen’s three children. In 1955, the family moved to Greenwich, where Jepsen attended public schools. He graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa in 1976 from Dartmouth College with a B.A. degree in Government with high distinction. In 1982, Jepsen earned his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School and simultaneously earned a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was a teaching fellow for Richard Neustadt and for former Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox. In 1987, Jepsen was elected to represent Stamford’s 148th State House District. From his election in 1990 through 2003, Jepsen represented the 27th State Senatorial District, serving Stamford and Darien. As a state senator, Jepsen was chairman of the Judiciary Committee (1993-1995) and ranking member of the Finance Committee (1995-1997). He served as Senate Majority Leader from 1997-2003. In 2002, Jepsen was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor. He served as Democratic State Party chairman from 2003-2005. Jepsen, a resident of West Hartford, is married to Diana Sousa. They have two sons, Christian, and William.