Kathleen Sebelius (/sɨˈbiːliəs/; née Gilligan; born May 15, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 21st United States Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. Previously, she was Governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009, the second woman to hold that office. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Sebelius was the Democratic respondent to the 2008 State of the Union address and is chair-emerita of the Democratic Governors Association (she was its first female chair).