Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor, who retired as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was named twenty-third Chancellor of the College by the College of William & Mary Board of Visitors. Justice O'Connor's appointment became effective October 1, 2005 and her investiture was held April 7, 2006; she succeeded Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, former United States Secretary of State, who was appointed in 2000.
The first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, Justice O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas, on March 26, 1930. She earned a B. A. in economics (magna cum laude) from Stanford University, and went on to receive an LL. B. from Stanford Law School, where she graduated third in her class. Her classmate, the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, graduated first in the class.
She served as Deputy County Attorney of San Mateo County, California, from 1952 to 1953, and as a civilian attorney for the Quartermaster Market Center, Frankfurt, Germany, from 1954 to 1957. From 1958 to 1960, she practiced law in Maryvale, Arizona, and served as Assistant Attorney General of Arizona from 1965 to 1969. She was appointed to the Arizona State Senate in 1969, and was subsequently reelected to two two-year terms.
In 1975, she was elected Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and served until 1979, when she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals.
President Ronald Reagan nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and she took her seat September 25, 1981. She was married to the late John Jay O'Connor III, and has three sons: Scott, Brian and Jay.
