District Judge to Speak at WM Convocation

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, August 13, 2011

Judge Rebecca Smith will speak at WM's convocation.

The ceremony, which will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the courtyard of the Sir Christopher Wren Building, welcomes freshman to the college and marks the beginning of the academic year.

Smith graduated as valedictorian of Hopewell High School in 1967, before pursuing her undergraduate degree from William and Mary. While at the college, she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, serving as a social chairman of the group in her senior year. Smith earned her undergraduate degree with honors from the college in 1971. She earned a master’s degree from the University of Virginia in 1973 before returning to William and Mary to study law.

While at the law school, she served as executive editor of the WM Law Review. She graduated first in the class of 1979. She went on to become the first female attorney to practice law with Willcox and Savage in Norfolk, then became a Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia. President George H.W. Bush appointed Smith to her current post as the federal judge for the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia in 1988; she was the commonwealth’s first female judge. One of her most notable rulings was made in 2010, when she determined the ownership of thousands of artifacts from the shipwreck of the Titanic.

Smith currently serves on the U.S. Judicial Conference Codes of Conduct Committee, having been appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts. She also once served as president of Norfolk Academy and a trustee of the school for 18 years. She has remained connected to her alma mater, previously serving as Alumni Association president and on the Board of Directors. In 1997, she received the Alumni Medallion, the college’s highest honor.