NANCY P. HOLLISTER was born in Marietta, Ohio and attended Kent State University. She served on the Marietta, Ohio City Council from 1980 to 1984 and became the city's first female Mayor, a position that she held from 1984 until 1991, when Governor George Voinovich appointed her Director of the Governor's Office of Appalachia. In that capacity, she advised the governor on how to improve economic life for people living in areas of Ohio—including her own home of Marietta—deemed to be part of Appalachia. In 1994, Hollister won election as Lieutenant Governor, and in that position succeeded to the governorship in an acting capacity when Voinovich resigned after winning a seat in the U.S. Senate. She is the first woman to hold the office of Governor of Ohio, despite having served for only 11 days. She later won election to the Ohio House of Representatives, serving from 2000 to 2004.