42 Facts About Patricia Wald

Patricia Ann McGowan Wald was an American lawyer and jurist who served as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1986 until 1991.

Patricia Wald was the Court's first female chief judge and its first woman to be elevated, having been appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979.

From 1999 to 2001, Wald was a Justice of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Patricia Wald was born in Torrington, Connecticut, to a working-class family.

Patricia Wald sought a position at a white-shoe firm upon graduation but was turned down for being a woman.

Patricia Wald was born on September 16,1928, in Torrington, Connecticut.

Patricia Wald was the only child of Joseph F McGowan, an alcoholic, and Margaret O'Keefe.

Patricia Wald's father left the family when she was two years old, leaving Wald to be raised by her mother with the company and support of extended relatives, most of whom were factory workers in Torrington and active union members.

Patricia Wald had a Roman Catholic upbringing, and worked in brass mills as a teenager during the summers.

Patricia Wald attended Torrington's St Francis School and graduated in 1940.

Patricia Wald then went on to graduate from Torrington High School in 1944 as the class valedictorian.

Patricia Wald graduated first in her class and joined the Phi Beta Kappa society at Connecticut College in 1948.

Patricia Wald was able to attend the college because of a scholarship that she received from an elderly affluent woman from her hometown.

Patricia Wald then received a national fellowship from the Pepsi-Cola Company that allowed her to earn her law degree from Yale Law School in 1951.

Patricia Wald graduated with only 11 other women that year out of a class of 200.

Patricia Wald was a research and editorial assistant for Frederick M Rowe, Esq.

Patricia Wald took a year off and then in 1963 spent a year as a member of the National Conference on Bail and Criminal Justice.

Patricia Wald then was appointed to the President's Commission on Crime in the District of Columbia from 1965 to 1966 by President Lyndon B Johnson.

Patricia Wald then joined the United States Department of Justice in 1967 and spent a year as an attorney in the Office of Criminal Justice.

Patricia Wald co-directed the Ford Foundation's Drug Abuse Research Project during 1970.

Patricia Wald then became an attorney at the Center for Law and Social Policy from 1971 to 1972 and from there switched to work as an attorney at the Mental Health Law Project for five years.

Patricia Wald then went back to the Department of Justice from 1977 to 1979.

Patricia Wald became a founding member of the National Association of Women Judges in 1979.

Patricia Wald was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on April 30,1979, to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to a new seat created by 92 Stat.

Patricia Wald was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 24,1979, and received her commission on July 26,1979.

Patricia Wald served as Chief Judge from 1986 to 1991.

Patricia Wald was the first woman to be appointed to the District of Columbia Circuit and was the first woman to serve as its chief judge.

In 1994, Patricia Wald became involved with American Bar Association's Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative, where she attempted to aid new Eastern European democracies rebuild their legal systems after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Patricia Wald presided over numerous cases of people accused of genocide.

On February 6,2004, Patricia Wald was appointed by President Bush to the President's Commission on Intelligence Capabilities of the US Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, an independent panel tasked with investigating US intelligence surrounding the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Patricia Wald agreed to serve on the Constitution Project's Guantanamo Task Force in December 2010.

Patricia Wald served as chair of the board of directors of the Open Society Justice Initiative and was a member of the board of directors for Mental Disability Rights International.

Patricia Wald continued to serve on the board of the American Bar Association's International Criminal Court Project.

Patricia Wald was a member of the global council of the California International Law Center at the University of California, Davis School of Law.

Patricia Wald was a member of the American Law Institute, the American Philosophical Society, and the Whitney R Harris World Law Institute's International Council.

Patricia Wald was married to Robert Lewis Wald, who was a Yale Law School graduate.

Patricia Wald died in Washington, DC, on January 12,2019, from pancreatic cancer, aged 90.

Patricia Wald was awarded more than 20 honorary degrees; in 2001, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by her alma mater, Yale University.

Patricia Wald was the recipient of the Margaret Brent Award of the American Bar Association for achieving professional excellence in her field and influencing other women to pursue legal careers.

Patricia Wald received the American Lawyer Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 and then four years later in 2008, she was awarded the American Bar Association Medal, the highest honor awarded by the ABA.

Patricia Wald was recognized by the Constitution Project as the 2011 Constitutional Champion.

On November 20,2013, Patricia Wald was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.