Major General (Ret.) Marcia Anderson was born in Beloit on Nov. 21, 1957, to Rudolph Mahan and Floye Arlayne Mahan. Her military career spanned 36 years on active duty and in the Army Reserve until she retired in 2016. She was the first African-American woman to reach the rank of Major General in the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserves and the U.S. Army National Guard.

General Anderson has a bachelor’s degree from Creighton University, a master’s in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, and a law degree from the Rutgers University School of Law. She has several military awards to include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, two Legions of Merit, as well as the Parachutists Badge.

She was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1979 and served in various leadership and staff roles throughout her career to include serving as a Basic Training Company Commander, as well as a Battalion and Brigade Commander. She was promoted in 2008 to Brigadier General and led over 6,000 Soldiers in an area that covered several Army posts in the Western United States under 1st Army. In 2010, she was assigned as the Deputy Commanding General of the Army’s Human Resources Command, which supports over 2.5 million Civilians, Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard, and retired Soldiers. She served in that capacity until her United States Senate confirmation as the first African American female Major General in the history of the Army, Army Reserve or National Guard. She was subsequently assigned as the Deputy Chief Army Reserve in 2011. In that role she served for three years at the Pentagon and had oversight for an $8 Billion budget, policy development and execution, and over 200,000 Soldiers and Civilians.

She retired from the United States Courts, where she served as the Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Wisconsin, located in Madison, Wisconsin. She is active in her community, and she currently serves as a member of the Green Bay Packers board of Directors as well as a member of the team’s Executive Committee. In addition, she is also on the board of Directors for Madison Gas and Electric and was formerly a Director for Nicolet National Bank, Access Community Health and the Dane County United Way.

Since 2022 Major General Anderson has been the Ship’s Sponsor for the U.S.S. Beloit, a Litoral Combat Ship dedicated to the citizens of Beloit and their long support for our national defense. This honors the contributions Beloit has made to the U.S. Navy, especially the engines built in its Fairbanks Morse plant, including U.S.S. Beloit’s own power plant.

She is married to Amos Anderson, and they are the excited to have a son and daughter and three amazing grandsons.