{{Short description|First Lady of New York}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Libby Pataki | office = First Lady of New York | image = Libby pataki waverly inn november 15 2007 new york photo by christopher peterson.jpg | caption = Pataki in November 2007 | predecessor = Matilda Cuomo | successor = Silda Wall | governor = George Pataki | office1 = First Lady of Peekskill | predecessor1 = Priscilla Bianco | successor1 = Ruth Jackson | term_label1 = In role | term_start1 = January 1, 1981 | term_end1 = December 31, 1984 | party = Republican | birth_name = Mary Elizabeth Rowland | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|11|17}} | birth_place = Dallas, Texas, U.S. | spouse = {{marriage|George Pataki|1973|}} | children = 4, including Allison Pataki | alma_mater = Clark University | term_start = January 1, 1995 | term_end = December 31, 2006 | term_label = In role }} '''Libby Pataki''' (born '''Mary Elizabeth Rowland''';<ref name=wp1>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1994/06/26/henry-rowland-dies/40eb4079-fcb7-41ba-a23c-0e0317a2b625/ |title=HENRY ROWLAND DIES |date=1994-06-26 |newspaper=The Washington Post |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}</ref> November 17, 1950) is the former First Lady of New York and the wife of former New York Governor George Pataki. She served as First Lady from 1995 to 2006 during the three terms of her husband's administration.
==Life and career== Pataki was born in Dallas, Texas, to Monique (Leblanc) and Col. Henry C. Rowland, Jr., an army officer and diplomat.<ref name=wp1/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/17/nyregion/libby-pataki-transition-personal-life-also-changing-for-next-first-lady.html|title=Libby Pataki, in Transition; Personal Life is Also Changing for the Next First Lady|newspaper=The New York Times|date=17 December 1994|last1=O'Neill|first1=Molly}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/05/definitive-presidential-spouse-guide-2016|title=The Definitive, Categorical, Alphabetical Guide to our Next First Lady…Or Man|website=Vanity Fair|date=22 May 2015}}</ref> Her mother was French.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/11/nyregion/public-lives-governor-s-mansion-isn-t-where-the-heart-is.html|title=PUBLIC LIVES; Governor's Mansion Isn't Where the Heart is|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 April 2000|last1=Gross|first1=Jane}}</ref>
As First Lady, Pataki focused on promoting the state's agriculture industry and preventing breast cancer.<ref>[http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/99/march24_99.htm Gov Site<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061103032355/http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/99/march24_99.htm |date=2006-11-03 }}</ref> Traveling throughout the state of New York, she worked to increase public awareness of breast cancer.
Pataki is a former marketing executive who managed the family farm in Peekskill, New York. As First Lady, Pataki accepted contracts to serve as a marketing consultant with various corporations, including Revlon.
In 2000, Pataki appeared on a radio show in which she criticized then-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for taking too long to drop out of the U.S. Senate race against First Lady Hillary Clinton. Pataki said that the delay hampered the campaign of the eventual Republican nominee, Congressman Rick Lazio.
Pataki's father was a career military officer. She graduated from Beaufort High School in Beaufort, South Carolina and Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. She and her husband, who married in 1973, have four children. Along with Nathan Sharansky, she serves as the co-founder of the pro-Israel institution One Jerusalem which supports the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem, a territory recognised as being under Israeli occupation by the international community.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-hon}} {{s-bef|before=Matilda Cuomo}} {{s-ttl|title=First Lady of New York|years=1995–2007}} {{s-aft|after=Silda Wall}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pataki, Libby}} Category:1950 births Category:Clark University alumni Category:First ladies and gentlemen of New York (state) Category:Living people Category:New York (state) Republicans Category:George Pataki Category:People from Peekskill, New York Category:American people of French descent Category:Spouses of New York (state) mayors