Hufstedler, Shirley Mount

Related Category: U.S. History: Biographies

1925–, American jurist and U.S. secretary of education (1980–81), b. Denver. After pursuing a career in private law practice (1950–60) she became a county and state judge in California (1961–68) and a federal appeals court judge in Ninth Circuit (1968–80). In 1979, President Jimmy Carter named her the first secretary of education; the department was established the following year. Since leaving the education department she has returned to private practice and taught.