Cornelia A. Clark, Class of 1979, became the second woman in the state’s history to serve as chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court when she was sworn into office September 1. Justice Clark was elected by the court for a two-year term.
She took the oath at the Historic Williamson County Courthouse in Franklin, Tennessee, succeeding current Chief Justice Janice Holder, who administered the oath. Poignantly, it was the same courthouse where she first appeared as a lawyer and where she presided as a trial judge for over ten years.
She was appointed to Tennessee’s Supreme Court in September 2005 and then elected to a full eight-year term in August 2006. Prior to her appointment to the state’s Supreme Court, Justice Clark was appointed director of the Administrative Office of the Courts in May 1999. She held this position until she was appointed to Tennessee’s Supreme Court by Governor Phil Bredesen.