Amy Milliken (’93, L): Small-Town Girl Turned Hometown Hero
By Catrina Cooksey
In 2004, Amy Milliken (‘93) was sworn in as the first female County Attorney in Warren County. She has served people of Warren County for the past 14 years and she said she doesn’t plan to quit anytime soon.
“It means the world to me,” she added. “I strive every day to do a good job for the people of Warren County.”
As Warren County’s attorney, she’s responsible for cases having to do with issues like child support, domestic issues and juvenile justice.
“It allows me to make a difference in lives every day,” she said. “I feel extremely lucky to do the work that I do.”
A Lifetime Member and former Board member for the WKU Alumni Association, Milliken is also a member of the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center Board of Directors. She also hopes to work with the Foundry, a Christian-based education center in Bowling Green, to create a music learning center for children in the community.
“Music often supports academic development in struggling students and gives them something to look forward to in school,” she explained. “I firmly believe music changes lives.”
She knows her goal will take a lot of support from the community and local leaders, but she’s prepared to put in the work that will be required. She said the road to success depends on a person’s tenacity and desire to thrive.
“I take great pride in smiling at the person who told me ‘you can’t do that’ or ‘it will never work’ as I show them ‘I did it and it worked’,” she added. “It doesn’t always have to be a fight, you just have to out-work, out-study, out-prepare and out-perform the naysayers. That’s all.”
Milliken said she owes a lot of her success to her family, who constantly shows her support. Her dad and great-grandmother taught her that women could do anything men could. They also told her stories of successful women and push her to aim even higher.
“My dad would bring me stories from newspapers and magazines about women who broke the mold,” she said. “I knew it was my job to do better, be better and work harder.”
She has two daughters of her own, who say they want to be a Warren County Attorney just like her. This makes her proud, but she admitted she wants them to aim higher.
“I need them to change the world,” she said. “I’m depending on it.”
Milliken’s family has attended WKU for three generations. Her parents were the first in their families to go to college. After growing up in Bowling Green and attending many of WKU’s games with them, Millken knew she was destined to be a Hilltopper.
“There was no question in my mind that I would head to the Hill after high school graduation,” she said. “WKU means so much to me. It really symbolizes family and friendship. The friendships and connections I made have been priceless.”
She encourages her daughter, who is a junior at WKU, to take advantage of her time on the Hill. Milliken was on the Homecoming court during her senior year at WKU. She remembers thinking, “Where in the world did the last four years go?” She also encourages her daughter to take time to get to know her professors, take time with her sorority and enjoy the moment.
“Time is so precious and it is fleeting,” she said. “While college life is very busy, you’ll never have as much time to enjoy everything as you do now.”