1. Mary Marguerite Leneen Forde, DStJ was born on 12 May 1935 and is a retired solicitor and former Chancellor of Griffith University, who served as the 22nd Governor of Queensland from 1992 until 1997.
12 Facts About Leneen Forde
1. 2.
Leneen Forde worked as a medical laboratory technician, and studied part-time for a Bachelor of Arts before moving to Australia in 1954.
3.
Leneen Forde worked in the Haematology Department of Royal Brisbane Hospital for two years prior to full-time legal study following her husband's death in 1966.
4.
Leneen Forde graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland in 1970, and from 1971 was employed as a solicitor.
5.
Leneen Forde was international president of women's service organisation Zonta International from 1990 to 1992.
6.
In 1992, Leneen Forde was only the second woman to be appointed to the position of governor of an Australian state and the first to take on the role in Queensland.
7.
Leneen Forde had remarried a retired detective superintendent from New South Wales Police, Angus McDonald, in 1983.
8.
In 1998, Leneen Forde was appointed to chair the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions.
9.
Leneen Forde handed the report to the Queensland Government in May 1999.
10.
On 26 January 1993, Leneen Forde was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in recognition of her service to the law, to improving the status of women and to economic and business development.
11.
Leneen Forde is a Dame of Grace in the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
12.
Leneen Forde was International President of Zonta from 1990 until 1992, and 1991 Queenslander of the Year.