JOHN G. ROBERTS

JOHN G. Roberts, Jr., chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was born in Buffalo, New York, on January 27, 1955.

He received an AB from Harvard College in 1976 and a JD from Harvard Law School in 1979.

Roberts began his career as a law clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1979-1980, and as a law clerk for Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1980 term. Roberts went on to serve as a special assistant to the attorney general of the United States.

In 1982, Roberts was appointed as associate counsel to President Reagan and served until 1986. From 1989-1993 he was the principal deputy solicitor general, following which he practiced law in Washington, D.C.

He served as a judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 20032005 until his nomination as chief justice by President George W. Bush. He assumed office on September 29, 2005.

Roberts’ great great grandmother was Irish-born. His wife Jane Sullivan Roberts, an attorney and legal recruiter in Washington, D.C., is first generation Irish through her Cork-born mother. The couple maintains a home with extended family in Limerick and are frequent visitors with their two children, Josephine and Jack.

In July of 2009, Roberts taught at New England Law | Boston’s summer program in Co. Galway.