HARRISBURG (May 11, 2009) - Gretchen A. Mundorff, a founding partner in the Connellsville law firm of Watson Mundorff Brooks & Sepic, will become President-elect of the Pennsylvania Bar Association at the conclusion of the organization's Annual Meeting June 4 in Pittsburgh. Mundorff will become president of the 29,000-member state legal association in 2010.

A member of the PBA House of Delegates, Mundorff is a former PBA Secretary, PBA Zone 6 governor, chair of the PBA Young Lawyers Division and Bar Leadership Institute, and vice chair of the PBA Women in the Profession Committee. She is a life fellow of the American and Pennsylvania Bar foundations and is a past member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board Hearing Committee. She served on the PBA Legal Services to Middle-Income Persons Committee, PBA Leadership Diversity Task Force, PBA Task Force on the Pennsylvania Judiciary, and the PBA Legal Access Task Force. Mundorff also serves on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the educational arm of the PBA.

Mundorff concentrates her law practice in plaintiff's personal injury, medical malpractice and family law. She is the solicitor for the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board and Dunbar Borough/Township Sanitary Authority.

Mundorff currently serves on the board of directors of the Greater Connellsville Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Connellsville and has been president of both organizations. She is a past director of The United Way of Connellsville, The United Way of Westmoreland County, the American Heart Association of Fayette County, the Uniontown-Harmarville Rehabilitation Advisory Board, Artworks Regional School for the Arts, and the Family Health Council in Pittsburgh. She was recognized by the American Red Cross with the Coldren Award for volunteer service and received the Athena Award from the Greater Connellsville Chamber of Commerce. She was named a Paul Harris fellow by the Rotary Club of Connellsville. Mundorff has served as president of the United Methodist Women of the Albright United Methodist Church in South Connellsville, where she has been active on the church council and has served as a youth Sunday School teacher and as a member of the Chancel Choir.

Mundorff graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Chatham College, where she was a member of both Phi Beta Kappa and Mortar Board honor fraternities. She received a Juris Doctorate from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, The College of William and Mary in Virginia. She resides in Connellsville with her husband, Donald Heckathorne.

Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association strives to promote justice, professional excellence and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access to legal services; and serve the 29,000 lawyers who are members of the association.

Editor's note: A photo of Gretchen A. Mundorff is available to download from the PBA Web site at: http://www.pabar.org/public/news%20releases/0910newofficersphotos.asp