Author Spotlight: Chief Judge Diane Wood

Hon. Diane P. WoodJudge Diane Wood currently serves as the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and as a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.  Recently, the Chicago Bar Association recognized her for demonstrating outstanding character and a commitment to community with the 2013 Justice John Paul Stevens Award.

Judge Wood graduated with a B.A. in English with highest honors from the University of Texas at Austin in 1971, and with her J.D. with high honors and Order of the Coif from the University of Texas School of Law in 1975, where she was an editor of the Texas Law Review.  After graduation, she clerked for Judge Irving Goldberg of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and for Justice Harry Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court (1975-1977).  She subsequently worked for the Office of the Legal Advisor of the U.S. Department of State (1977-1978), and later practiced at Covington & Burling (1978-1980) before entering academia.  She began her teaching career as an assistant professor of law at Georgetown University in 1980 before joining the faculty at the University of Chicago Law School in 1981.  While teaching in Chicago, she served as Professor of Law (1989-1992) and Associate Dean (1990-1995).  She also served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General (1985-1987), and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General (1993-1995) at the U.S. Department of Justice.  She enjoys playing the oboe and English horn in various orchestras in the Chicago area.

Judge Wood is a leading candidate for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barack Obama.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • Admitted to the Bars of Texas (1975, resigned 1996), the District of Columbia (1978), and Illinois (1993)
  • Admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Seventh Circuits, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
  • Member, American Law Institute
  • Associate Member, International Academy of Comparative Law