SAINT PAUL, MN, February 22, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Kathleen Osborne Vellenga with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Ms. Vellenga celebrates many years' experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
A former state legislator, Ms. Vellenga served the Minnesota House of Representatives as chairman of education finance, judiciary chairman, member of the democratic steering committee, chairman of the criminal justice division, and member of the tax committee and rules committee for a span of 14 years. Officially retiring in 1994, she entered politics after first teaching for the St. Paul Public Schools, the Children's Center Montessori and the Children's House Montessori in St. Paul, Minn., over the course of 20 years.
Following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Tom Osborne, who served in the Nebraska State Legislature during the 1940s, Ms. Vellenga was the first female candidate elected from her St. Paul district to the Minnesota State Legislature. During her career in government, she also spent eight years as the executive director of the St. Paul/Ramsey County Children's Initiative and a year as a member of the St. Paul Services board. A longstanding member of the League of Women Voters, where she served as vice president of the St. Paul chapter in 1979, Ms. Vellenga has also been long affiliated with the Minnesota Women Elected Officials, serving as vice chair in 1994.
Locally, Ms. Vellenga served her community in a number of ways. She served as a member of the Citizens League Board for several years, was on the board of directors for the Sexual Violence Center from 2004 and 2006, and was a board member for H.B. Fuller Foundation from 2005 to 2009. She currently serves as chair of the Minnesota Higher Education Services Council since 2000, and as a member of the Presbytery Twin Cities Committee Ministry since 2012, among other roles.
The recipient of a Humanitarian Service Award from the St. Paul League of Women Voters, an Outstanding Achievement Award from the St. Paul YMCA, and a Distinguished Citizen Award from her alma mater, Macalester College, where she received her Bachelor's degree in 1959, Ms. Vellenga also recently became a published author. She wrote two novels, "Strangers in Our Midst" in 2013 and "In the Midst of Bounty" in 2016, Forty Press, and has penned several poems. She is currently writing a third book for a series of historical fiction based on the Plymouth Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians.
Married for 56 years to James Allan Vellenga, Ms. Vellenga has three children and six grandchildren. Ms. Vellenga has been cited in every edition of Who's Who in America since 1995, and multiple editions of Who's Who in American Politics, Who's Who in the Midwest, and Who's Who of American Women.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to her profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Kathleen Osborne Vellenga has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
About Marquis Who's Who :
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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