Sept. 29, 2010 

Contact:
Renee DeGross Valdes, 404-413-1353
University Relations

ATLANTA – Georgia State University College of Law will host several high level judges during the “Trailblazers” panel on Thursday, Sept. 30, as part of the Just the Beginning Foundation’s annual conference.

The panel, to be held in the Student University Center’s Speakers Auditorium from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., will spotlight the lives and distinguished careers of four trailblazers:

• Phyllis Kravitch, a senior circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta. She was the first woman to serve in Georgia as Superior Court judge, and the third woman in the nation’s history to serve as a federal Court of Appeals judge and the first in the Southeast.
• Terry J. Hatter Jr., a senior U.S. District Judge, was the first African-American to serve as a chief judge of the Central District of California.
• Harry T. Edwards, a chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, was appointed by President Jimmy Carter and was among the handful of African-American appellate judges at the time he was appointed.
• Joyce London Alexander Ford, who retired in 2009 as chief magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court in Boston. She was the country’s first African-American woman to serve as a U.S. magistrate judge.

Moderated by U.S. Circuit Court Judge Ann C. Williams and U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, the panel discussion will focus on these judges’ respective paths to the judiciary and highlights of their service. Following one-on-one interviews with each of the judges, audience members will be invited to ask the panelists questions.

The nonprofit, Just the Beginning Foundation, is an organization that develops and nurtures interest in the law among young persons from various ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in the field of law.

No RSVP required and the event is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit: www.jtbf.org.