Mary Elizabeth Heffernan is an American attorney and the current Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety. She previously served as the Undersecretary of Criminal Justice from 2007 to 2010. She is also a former Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County

Middlesex County, Massachusetts

-National protected areas:* Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge* Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Longfellow National Historic Site* Lowell National Historical Park* Minute Man National Historical Park* Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge...

.

In the private sector, Heffernan served as the Associate General Counsel and Director of Intergovernmental and Regulatory Affairs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts is a major flagship teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital and New England Deaconess Hospital...

 and as the Corporate Director of Government Relations for CareGroup Health Care System.

Heffernan is an alumnus of Framingham State College, Suffolk University Law School

Suffolk University Law School

Suffolk University Law School, also known as Suffolk Law School or SULS, is one of the professional graduate schools of Suffolk University. Suffolk University Law School is a private, non-sectarian, law school located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Suffolk University Law School was founded in...

, and Suffolk University

Suffolk University

Suffolk University is a private, non-sectarian, university located in Boston, Massachusetts and with over 16,000 students it is the third largest university in Boston...

 School of Management. She is a member of the Framingham State University Board of Trustees. She resides in West Roxbury with her two children.