Sandra Day O'Connor, Chancellor
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 and Mary Board of Visitors. Justice O'Connor's appointment became effective at her April 2006 investiture; she succeeded Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, former United States Secretary of State, who was appointed in 2000.
"I am delighted to serve as Chancellor of the College of William and Mary, and look forward to being an active member of the campus community. Following such former Chancellors as Henry Kissinger, Margaret Thatcher and my friend Warren Burger is truly an honor that I will cherish," said O'Connor. "From the time of Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall, William and Mary has been distinguished by its unusual ability to educate young people to become national and international leaders, and I intend to do what I can to ensure that the College is able to extend that tradition well into the future."
The post of Chancellor has been an important one since the College was chartered in 1693 by King William III and Queen Mary II of Great Britain. Until 1776, the Chancellor was an English subject – usually the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of London – who served as the College's advocate to the crown, while a colonial president oversaw the day-to-day activities of the Williamsburg campus. Following the Revolutionary War, George Washington was appointed as the first American chancellor; later President John Tyler held the post.
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 is married to John Jay O'Connor III, and the couple has three sons: Scott, Brian and Jay.
