The first woman to become a chief judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will speak about the lives of women in the judiciary today at 6:30 p.m. in 175 Knight Law Center. Mary Schroeder, appointed chief judge to the nation’s largest judicial circuit in 2000, will give a speech titled “Whatever Happened to Diversity?”
The circuit covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and the islands of Guam and the Northern Marianas.
The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Women’s Law Forum. Schroeder will also be part of a panel discussion with other women in the law profession at 5 p.m.: U.S. District Judges Ann Aiken and Anna Brown, U.S. Magistrate Judge Janice Stewart, retired Oregon Supreme Court Justice Susan Leeson, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Karin J. Immergut and Oregon State Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland.
Schroeder has had an illustrious career and has overcome many challenges as a woman. She was one of only six women in her University of Chicago law class in the 1960s and struggled to find her first job, according to a press release. Originally from Arizona, she moved back to the state at a time when no women in the state had ever been employed by a major law firm. However, she later became a partner at one of Arizona’s largest law firms and went on to serve on the Arizona Court of Appeals for four years as the youngest woman appellate judge at the time, before President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the Ninth Circuit Court in 1979.
Jessica Skelton, Women’s Law Forum director and a third-year law student, said Schroeder’s work is in line with the group’s mission. The group works to increase awareness on women’s issues and promote equality within the field of law.
“We chose Judge Schroeder because of her position … and because of her history and involvement in issues related to women and diversity,” Skelton said.

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