Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman nominated to serve on the US Supreme Court, a position she held from 1981 until 2006. In 2005, she became the chancellor of the College of William and Mary.

Justice O’Connor earned a B.A. in economics (magna cum laude) from Stanford University and a LL.B. from Stanford Law School. She was an editor of the law review and graduated third in her law class—two spots behind her friend and future colleague, the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist. President Reagan nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and she took her seat September 25, 1981. Warren E. Burger, another future chancellor at William & Mary, was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court when she joined the court.

Justice O’Connor was selected on October 4, 2005 to succeed the Honorable Henry A. Kissinger as Chancellor of the College of William and Mary. She was the first American woman to serve as chancellor of the university.

The investiture ceremony for Justice O'Connor took place on April 7, 2006, the same day as the inauguration of Gene R. Nichol as President of the College of William and Mary (Chancellor, 2005-20006, Acc. 2007.047, Box 3, Office of the President. Gene R. Nichol Records, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William & Mary). She was an important presence on the William and Mary campus, addressing prospective students, visiting classes, meeting with law and undergraduate students and with faculty and staff, and keynoting academic conferences sponsored by the College’s Philosophy Department and its Law School. She also gave the Commencement address at the Law School in 2006 and 2010. Her term as chancellor officially concluded in 2012.

Preceded by	College of William and Mary Chancellor	Succeeded by
Henry A. Kissinger 2000-2005	Sandra Day O'Connor 2005-2012	Robert M. Gates 2012-Present

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

• University Archives Subject File Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William & Mary.
• University Archives Faculty-Alumni File Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William & Mary.
• University Archives Photograph Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William & Mary.

References

• "Justice O'Connor." Cornell University Law School. Accessed 3 December 2009.
• "Sandra Day O'Connor." Wikipedia. Accessed 3 December 2009.
• "Sandra Day O'Connor, Chancellor", College of William and Mary website. Accessed 2 September 2011.
• Office of the President Records, Gene R. Nichol, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William & Mary.

Need help?

To search for further material, visit the Special Collections Research Center's Search Tool List for an overview of the Special Collections Database, W&M Digital Archive, Flat Hat-William & Mary News-Alumni Gazette index, card catalogs, and other tools available to help you find material of interest in William & Mary Libraries Special Collections Research Center.

Questions? Contact the Special Collections Research Center at spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090, or visit the Special Collections Research Center in the Earl Gregg Swem Library at William & Mary.

A Note About The Contents Of This Wiki

The information available in this wiki is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of William & Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the Special Collections search tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.