Staff

Hana Callaghan was a daughter of Lake Tahoe, a lawyer of Seattle, a mother of Los Altos, a campaigner of Campbell, a scholar of Santa Clara, a barnstormer of Hollywood, and a wife through it all to the one love of her many lives. Born in Oakland to Charles and Anita Shields, Hana was the youngest of three siblings and the most delightful kind of surprise. Along with her brothers Andrew and Peter, she spent teenage weekends hewing a home from logs of the Sierra. A graduate of Skyline High and UC Berkeley, she was a California girl to the core. At Cal, Hana met Michael Callaghan, beginning the love that would last the rest of her 44 years on Earth. They married in 1978. With a J.D. from Seattle University and an L.L.M. from Golden Gate University, Hana enjoyed a career that spanned law and politics. Most recently, she served as director of government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at SCU and recently authored a book for the Markkula Center titled Campaign Ethics: A Field Guide. Her contributions to the University through teaching, public speaking engagements, and video posts helped advance the community’s awareness of ethics in the political sphere. If you knew Hana, you knew a few things: the laugh that allowed no argument, the eyes that demanded mirth, the turn of her lip when she listened, the hugs that wrapped the whole world. She was the rare maestro of the mind who made others feel elevated by her intellect. Hana died suddenly on Jan. 4, 2020, from a pulmonary embolism. She is survived by her brother Peter Shields, husband Mike, sons Grant and Chad, daughter-in-law Andrea, and grandchildren Allison and James.

28 Jan 2020