Judith Giuliani

Early life and education

Born Judi Ann Stish, she is a native of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a town known for its coal mining economy. Her family is Roman Catholic; the surname was originally Sticia and of Northern Italian origin. Her father, Donald Stish, Sr., was a circulation manager for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and her mother, Joan Ann (Ososki), who is of Polish heritage, is a homemaker. She had an older brother, Donald, Jr., who died in 2004, and has a younger sister, Cyndy. Her parents still reside in the same home where she grew up in Hazleton.

She graduated from Hazleton High School in 1972, where she participated in the Future Nurses Association, the Literary Society, the tennis and ski clubs, and the Diggers Club, a volunteer service organization. Interested in both the human and scientific aspects of the field, she attended a two-year nursing program, affiliated with Pennsylvania State University, at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and graduated with a registered nurse diploma on September 1, 1974. She credits her decision to become a registered nurse as "one of the most practical, wonderful ones I ever made…because, aside from the science, you learn crisis management, decision making, prioritizing…"

First marriages, medical sales career, motherhood

After graduation, Stish worked for a few months as a nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania; it was the only time in her career that she engaged in direct patient care. On December 8, 1974, at the age of 19, she and Jeffrey Ross, a 25-year-old medical supply salesman, eloped to Las Vegas and were married at the Chapel of the Bells. The couple soon relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina where they both took jobs with U.S. Surgical Corporation in 1975 selling medical supplies in the Southeast; Judi Ross specialized in showing doctors in operating rooms a new surgical stapling method; she was judged excellent at her work. She and Ross separated amicably after four years, and their marriage ended in divorce which was finalized on November 14, 1979. The couple had no children.

Five days later, on November 19, 1979, Judi Stish Ross married wallpaper salesman Bruce Nathan, whom she had met during her separation from her first husband. Judi Nathan stopped working around that time; the couple lived in Charlotte for two years, then moved to Atlanta, Georgia. The Nathans adopted a daughter, Whitney, in March 1985. The family moved to Manhattan in 1987 and Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles in 1991. During these years, she briefly worked for DynaMed Surgical in California. She also converted from Roman Catholicism to Presbyterianism.

The Nathans' marriage fell apart during the early 1990s and led to a well-publicized divorce case and custody battle. She accused him of physical abuse, and he accused her of physical and mental abuse, along with being an "unfit mother" who kidnapped their daughter and engaged in social opportunism. The Nathans' divorce was finalized in 1992 and she won primary custody of their child. Nathan, who came to prefer the name "Judith" around this time, moved back to New York in March 1992, enrolling her daughter at the Spence School in Manhattan. Nathan used her alimony payments to cover part of the tuition for her daughter; the rest came from scholarships her friends helped to secure. Nathan lived with friends for almost a year, borrowing pots and pans. Now a single mother, her parents took out a second mortgage to help her pay her legal bills; she worked as a dental receptionist and attended New York University computer and business classes at night and on weekends. Nathan received a New York nursing license and began working in 1993 as a pharmaceutical sales representative with the hospital sales division of Bristol-Myers Squibb, selling surgical supplies, anti-depressants, and antibiotics in the tough Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn; one of her specialties was infectious diseases. Around this time Judith became romantically involved with Woodhull Hospital clinical psychologist Manos Zacharioudakis; she and her daughter lived with him for four years, until early 1999. Meanwhile, she became one of Bristol-Myers' top sales managers, by 1997 managing a 12-person sales team.

Relationship with and marriage to Giuliani

Judith Nathan met Mayor Giuliani in May 1999 at Club Macanudo, an Upper East Side cigar bar; they have said they were introduced by a doctor who is a mutual friend. Giuliani took the initiative in forming an ongoing relationship. The mayor was still married to and living with his second wife, Donna Hanover, although they had been publicly distant since 1996, and Nathan was still living with Zacharioudakis. For most of a year, the relationship was kept secret, and in early 2000 Giuliani arranged for New York Police Department security and chauffeuring for her. By March 2000, Giuliani and Nathan were appearing together at public events; in May 2000, Giuliani publicly acknowledged her as his "very good friend" and, amidst a flurry of press scrutiny about Nathan, announced he was separating from Hanover. Nathan endeared herself to the mayor's powerful inner circle of friends and advisers. Later in 2000, Giuliani credited Nathan's nursing background in helping him through his treatment for prostate cancer. Nathan aggressively researched treatment options and Giuliani was quoted as saying, "I felt so fortunate to have not only someone who loved me and cared about me, but also someone who was an expert with an enormous amount of knowledge of medicine and science-she was the single biggest support that I had."

Judith and Rudy Giuliani became engaged in Paris in November 2002 and they married on May 24, 2003. The wedding was held at Gracie Mansion and was one of only two performed, to date, by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The reception for 400 guests included figures from the political, entertainment, and fashion worlds. As a reporter observed of the formal evening nuptials, "All that was lacking was the horse-drawn coach." The couple have a $5 million apartment off Madison Avenue in the Upper East Side in Manhattan and a $4 million summer home in The Hamptons and like to play golf. They also enjoy attending the opera and New York Yankees games. Rudy Giuliani's friends say that she has made him "more fun".

From shortly before their marriage until his presidential campaign began, Rudy Giuliani paid her an average of $125,000 per year for her professional value as a speechwriter.

Rudy Giuliani frequently cited his wife as his "closest adviser", saying in 2007 that she remains "an expert we rely on" at his company, Giuliani Partners, where he serves as chairman and chief executive officer. "She gives us a lot of advice and a lot of help in areas where she's got a lot of expertise – biological and chemical. Since we do security work, that's an area of great concern – you know, another anthrax attack, a smallpox attack, chemical agents. She knows all of that."

Fundraising and charitable work

In March 2001, desiring less travel and reduced public visibility, Nathan left Bristol-Myers and became a fund-raiser and later the managing director of Changing Our World, an international fundraising and philanthropic services company headquartered in New York that helps not-for-profit groups raise money for causes such as juvenile blindness and HIV/AIDS in Africa. She left the organization in 2006 and continues to serve as a pro bono adviser. Contributions to the fund also created the TTF Scholarship Fund and America’s Camp for victims' children.

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Giuliani credited Nathan with coordinating the efforts of the Family Assistance Center at Pier 94, a claim disputed by the first director of New York City's Office of Emergency Management, Jerry Hauer, but supported by others who say she played a valuable role there that lasted for four months. Rudy Giuliani wrote of this period in his 2002 book, Leadership, explaining that she capably served as a solid mayoral adviser after September 11 because she "had been a nurse for many years, and afterward a pharmaceutical executive; she had managed a team of people and had many organizational skills. Further, she had wide-ranging scientific knowledge and research expertise." In addition, he said that he "put her to work helping me organize the hospitals" to assist those injured in the attacks.

She became a founding member of the board of trustees of the Twin Towers Fund, appointed by Giuliani, which raised and distributed $216 million to over 600 families and individuals. Contributions to the fund also created the TTF Scholarship Fund and America’s Camp for victims' children.

Since her third marriage, Judith Giuliani has worked to raise funds for St. Vincent's Hospital. She has also been involved in raising funds for Cabrini High School for Girls in New York. As part of her work with Cabrini High School for Girls, Judith Giuliani has hosted several luncheons and breakfast tours to introduce the facility to individuals and businesspeople in order to encourage their support. She also supports the McCarton School for autistic children.

Judith Giuliani has also worked to raise funds for Hurricane Katrina relief in New Orleans. In March 2005 she received the Community Award from the New York Junior League; Also in that year, she and her husband received the Spirit of Cabrini Service Award from the Cabrini Mission Foundation; and in May 2006 she received the New York University College of Nursing Humanitarian Award. Giuliani was recognized for her role as a nurse for humanitarian and charitable endeavors, as well as for serving as a prominent voice in promoting the nursing profession. As of 2007, she served as Executive Director of the Campaign for Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Center in New York, seeking to construct the first Level I trauma center below 14th Street in Manhattan.

Judith Giuliani also acted as the national spokesperson for Women's Heart Advantage, which seeks to raise awareness among women and their doctors about preventing heart-related health conditions. As a spokesperson for Women's Heart Advantage, she promoted the organization as the first hospital-based program focusing on women and heart disease.

Role in Giuliani presidential campaign

As Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign began in earnest in 2007, Judith Giuliani served as an advisor and fundraiser, but also came in for a new round of intense and often unflattering media attention. Her first marriage to Jeffrey Ross was revealed in the press for the first time, her educational background was clarified, she appeared in a Barbara Walters interview on 20/20, and her estranged relations with Rudy Giuliani's children were examined. There was controversy about her travel requirements and conflicts with Rudy Giuliani's aides. Media outlets portrayed her as someone aspiring to social status and given to extravagant shopping. An attempt by the campaign over summer 2007 to rehabilitate her image fell victim to internal tensions, and instead her public appearances were scaled back.

During the March 2007 Walters interview, the Giulianis stated that she would sit in on Cabinet meetings were he elected, a plan that attracted criticism and that they later backed away from. Rudy Giuliani said that Judith Giuliani proved a capable fund-raiser who provided meaningful input on his policies, particularly those pertaining to health care, since she holds a two-year nursing degree and once sold pharmaceuticals.