Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

Justice O'Connor graduated magna cum laude from Stanford University. She also took her law degree from Stanford where she served on the Stanford Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif. O'Connor served as a state senator in the Arizona legislature and was elected Senate Majority Leader in 1972. In 1975 she was elected to the Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Arizona, and served as a trial court judge from 1975 to 1979. In 1979 O'Connor was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals by Governor Bruce Babbitt, a position she held until 1981. On July 7, 1981, former President Ronald Reagan nominated her to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice O'Connor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September and took office on September 25, 1981, to become the first woman U. S. Supreme Court Justice.

O'Connor began her law career as a deputy county attorney for the San Mateo County, California. She also served as a civilian attorney for Quartermaster Market Center, Frankfurt, Germany, an Assistant Attorney General in Arizona, and had a private law practice for a time.

Justice O'Connor is a current member of the National Board of the Smithsonian Associates. Prior to her appointment to the U. S. Supreme Court, she served in many civic positions including President of the Board of Trustees for The Heard Museum; Board of Advisors for the Salvation Army; Vice-President of the Soroptimist Club of Phoenix, Arizona; Board of Visitors for the Arizona State University Law School, Secretary and member of the Board of Directors of Arizona Academy; and the Board of Trustees at Stanford University. She has also served on the Arizona Board of Junior Achievement, the Board of Directors of the Phoenix Historical Society, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and as Vice-President and Advisory Board member of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Maricopa County California.