A Conversation with Trailblazer and Leader Judge Ann Claire Williams (Ret.) JD '75
Hosted by Notre Dame Law School's Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law G. Marcus Cole
Hear the inspiring story of a Notre Dame alumna's distinguished career—a journey of many "firsts," including her appointment as the first judge of color to serve on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and only the third woman of color on any U.S. Court of Appeals. From her childhood in Detroit, to serving as an assistant rector in Farley during the early days of coeducation, to becoming chief of the Organized Drug Enforcement Task Force for a five-state region, to her many years of distinguished service as a judge, hers is a story of faith, resilience, generosity, and a deep commitment to justice.
Judge Ann Williams was born in Detroit in 1949, the oldest of three daughters, and graduated from Wayne State University in 1970 with a degree in elementary education. She earned a masters degree from the University of Michigan in guidance and counseling, and after teaching third grade for a few years, she attended Notre Dame, earning her law degree in 1976 while also serving as an assistant rector in Farley Hall.
Williams began her legal career as a law clerk with Judge Robert Sprecher of the U.S. Court of Appeals, and later worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, trying major felony cases. President Ronald Reagan nominated her in 1985 to the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, making her the first woman of color to serve on a district court in the three-state Seventh Circuit. In 1999, President William Clinton's nomination made her the first judge of color to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the third Black woman to serve on any federal circuit court.
Williams retired from the bench in 2018, and now is Of Counsel at the international law firm of Jones Day, where she heads their efforts in advancing the rule of law in Africa. Devoted to promoting the effective delivery of justice worldwide, particularly in Africa, she has partnered with judiciaries, attorneys, NGOs, and the U.S. Departments of Justice and State to lead training programs in Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. She also has taught at the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
In addition to her service to a variety of community, legal, and judicial organizations, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, the Weinstein International Foundation, iCivics, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the advisory board of Just the Beginning–A Pipeline Organization, which she founded, Williams has served as a member of the University's Board of Trustees since 1988.
G. Marcus Cole is the Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School and a leading scholar of the empirical law and economics of commerce and finance. Prior to coming to Notre Dame, he was a faculty member at Stanford Law School. Before joining the Stanford faculty, he was an associate with the Chicago law firm of Mayer Brown and clerked for Judge Morris Sheppard Arnold of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Dean Cole earned his bachelor’s degree in applied economics from Cornell University and his juris doctor from Northwestern University, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business.