Sonia Sotomayor Biography

Fast Facts

• Briefly served on the board of the Maternity Center Association during the mid-80s
• Served as a member of the State of New York Mortgage Agency until 1992
• Appointed as one of the founding members of the New York City Campaign Finance Board in 1998 by Mayor Ed Koch
• Elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2002
• Earned her law degree from Yale University, where she was on a full scholarship
• Graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976
• Named valedictorian of her high school class in 1972
• Born to Puerto Rican parents who lived in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of New York City that comprised of mostly tenement housing
• Diagnosed with Type I diabetes in seven-years-old
• Nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the U․S․ Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in June of 1997
• Hired as an assistant district attorney in 1980 after passing the New York state bar
• Nominated by President George H․ W․ Bush to a seat on the U․S․ District Court for the Southern District of New York in November of 1991, thus becoming the youngest judge in her district as well as the first Hispanic judge in New York
• Sworn in as a member of the U․S․ Supreme Court in 2009, becoming the first Hispanic woman to join
• Initially only fluent in Spanish, she finally learned English at about 10-years-old
• Served as an adjunct professor at New York University's law school from 1998 until 2007
• Stated that she gained inspiration to join the legal profession after reading Nancy Drew books and watching "Perry Mason" while trying to learn English
• Established a small, informal practice, Sotomayor & Associates, out of her apartment in the early '80s to help friends and family with legal matters