By Terry Poulos, Chicago
[CHICAGO, IL] This November, Greek American Mariyana Spyropoulos (D-Chicago) was elected by a landslide margin to the office of Cook County Circuit Court Clerk, the chief legal record-keeping office in the nation’s largest combined criminal and civil justice system. In early December, she took the oath of office.
Spyropoulos served the previous 14 years as a Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of greater Chicago and previous to that was an assistant Cook County state’s attorney. She assumes the Clerk’s position at a critical juncture where she’ll be leading modernization of technology to digitize court records.
In a prepared press release, Clerk Spyropoulos is quoted saying that the Clerk’s office “is the front door to our justice system. I pledge today to keep that door open to everyone: not just to those who know how to navigate the system, but also the woman seeking protection from her abuser, the man hoping for an expungement to get a second chance and the newly-arrived family navigating an unfamiliar world.”
During her tenure with the water district, Spyropoulos was a key initiator of green energy projects and oversaw the disinfection of Chicago’s waterways. Using her dual attorney/MBA skills, she helped maintain the District’s AAA bond rating and pushed for transparency by introducing independent oversight, as well as live-streaming board meetings. She was bestowed with the Illinois Water Environment Association Public Official Award in 2017 and the Public Service Award from the Water Environment Federation in 2021.
Spyropoulos, married to husband Paul, is a native of Chicago’s south side and attended public school, where she developed an early interest in civics. She earned her JD at the University of Illinois Chicago, and MBA from Loyola University Chicago. She’s a member of the Chicago Sierra Club, Hellenic Bar Association, Women’s Bar Association, and Sankofa House board of directors.
A proud Greek American, Spyropoulos has a long and active history of participation in many Hellenic causes. Her father, late Greece native Theodore Spyropoulos, married Mariyana’s mother, Erika. Theodore served in the Hellenic Navy and later emigrated to Chicago where he became a highly-successful businessman in the energy and international marketing sectors. He also founded Plant Your Roots In Greece, which helps reforest fire-stricken acres across Greece. Internationally-known to Hellenes in the Motherland and abroad, Theodore was a key philanthropist for many Greek American causes.
His daughter continues his legacy of service.
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