Janet Reno - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Reno was born in Miami, Florida. Reno's mother, Jane Wallace (née Wood), raised her children and then became an investigative reporter for the Miami News. Her father, Henry Olaf Reno (original surname Rasmussen), was an emigrant from Denmark, who, for 43 years was a police reporter for the Miami Herald. Janet Reno has three younger siblings: Mark, Robert (a writer; 1939-2012), and Maggy Hurchalla.

Reno attended public school in Miami-Dade County, Florida, where she was a debating champion and was valedictorian at Coral Gables High School. In 1956, Reno enrolled at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she majored in chemistry, became president of the Women's Self-Government Association, and earned her room and board. After Cornell, Reno enrolled at Harvard University Law School and was graduated in 1963. From 1963 to 1971 Reno worked as an attorney for two Miami law firms. She was named staff director of the Judiciary Committee of the Florida House of Representatives in 1971. She helped revise the Florida court system. In 1973, she accepted a position with the Dade County State's Attorney's Office. She worked for the Judiciary Circuit, and left the state's attorney's office in 1976 to become a partner in a private law firm.