Janet Reno was born in 1938 in Miami, Florida. She attended Cornell University and graduated in 1960 with a degree in chemistry. In 1960, she enrolled at Harvard Law School, one of only sixteen women in a class of more than 500 students, and she received her LL.B. from Harvard in 1963. She was named staff director of the Judiciary Committee of the Florida House of Representatives in 1971, and in 1973 accepted a position with the State Attorney's Office in Dade County. In 1978, after the then-serving State Attorney stepped down, she was appointed by Governor Reubin Askew as state attorney for Dade County, the first women to serve in this role. She was subsequently elected to this position five times.

Janet Reno was nominated by President Clinton in 1993 to the post of U.S. Attorney General. She was the first female attorney general of the United States, and the longest-serving in the twentieth century. In 2001, she returned to private life in Miami.  She currently  serves as a Director of AJS, and serves as co-chair of the AJS Commission on Forensic Science and Public Policy. She continues to advocate tirelessly for efforts to improve fairness and equity in the justice system.