University of Arizona Mourns Death of Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl

University Marketing and Communications

Former Sen. Jon Kyl, a University of Arizona alumnus who represented Arizona in Congress for more than 25 years as a leading voice on legal and national security issues, died last night in Phoenix. He was 84.

Born in Oakland, Nebraska, in 1942, Kyl was the son of Rep. John Henry Kyl, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa, and Arlene Kyl. After graduating high school, Kyl attended the U of A, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1964. He graduated from the James E. Rogers College of Law in 1966, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Arizona Law Review.

“The University of Arizona mourns the loss of Sen. Jon Kyl, and our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time,” said U of A President Suresh Garimella. “Sen. Kyl dedicated decades of his life to public service, and his record on national security and water policy left Arizona and the nation better than he found them. It is especially meaningful to us that his legacy continues at this university through the Kyl Institute for National Security, where his commitment to responsible governance lives on in the work of our students and researchers.”

After being admitted to the Arizona State Bar, Kyl practiced law with Jennings, Strouss & Salmon in Phoenix, and chaired the Phoenix Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce from 1984 to 1985.

Kyl was elected to Congress in 1987 and represented Arizona for more than 25 years – first in the House until 1995, then in the Senate until 2013. During his Senate tenure, he chaired the Republican Policy Committee and the Senate Republican Conference. He also served on several committees, including intelligence, finance, judiciary, energy and natural resources, appropriations and the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.

In 2007, Kyl was unanimously elected Republican Whip, his party’s second-in-command – a position he held until his retirement in 2013. After leaving office, he worked as a lobbyist and was reappointed to the Senate in 2018 to complete the final months of Sen. John McCain’s term following McCain’s death. 

In December 2025, Kyl announced he would step back from public life after being diagnosed with dementia.

TIME magazine named him one of America’s “Best Senators” in 2006. It included him among the world’s 100 most influential people in 2010, with Sen. Mitch McConnell praising his “encyclopedic knowledge of domestic and foreign policy, and his hard work and leadership.”

In 2012, the University Libraries Special Collections acquired Kyl’s congressional papers, which document his decades of public service through speeches, committee files, hearings, reports, press releases, photographs and correspondence.

Earlier this year, the U of A announced the establishment of the Kyl Institute for National Security, designed to facilitate strategic partnerships with government, industry and academia to deliver mission-focused research in national security and defense. “The University of Arizona played an important role in my life,” Kyl said at the time of the institute’s creation. “It’s especially meaningful to see the university applying its research strengths in partnership with government and the private sector to address real-world national security challenges.”

That vision will continue to guide the institute that bears his name, said retired Gen. Robin Rand, executive director and CEO of the Kyl Institute.

“Sen. Kyl understood that national security begins with service to country and to the people entrusted with its defense,” Rand said. “It is an honor to lead an institute that bears his name and to carry forward his commitment to strengthening our nation’s security for generations to come.”

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