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Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas
Position:
Associate Justice

Judicial Offices:
President George Bush appointed Thomas to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; he took the oath of office on March 12, 1990. Clarence Thomas was nominated by President Bush as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; the Senate confirmed the appointment on October 15, 1991 by a 52-48 vote. Clarence Thomas was sworn into office on October 23, 1991.

Family:
Clarence Thomas was born June 28, 1948 in the Pin Point, near Savannah, Georgia. The second child of M.C. Thomas and Leola Williams; he grew up with his grandmother in Savannah. He married Virginia Lamp in 1987, and has one child, Jamal Adeen, from a previous marriage.

Education:
St. John Vianney Minor Conception Seminary, 1967-1968: At Holy Cross College, he graduated ninth in his class with an A.B. in English, cum laude in 1971. He was a member of Alpha Sigma Nu and the Purple Key Society. At Yale Law School, he received his J.D. in 1974.

Law Practice:
Thomas was admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1974 and later became an Attorney in the pesticide and agriculture division of the Monsanto Company, 1977-1979.

Government Service:
Thomas served as assistant Attorney General of Missouri (1974-77), Legislative assistant to Senator John C. Danforth of Missouri (1979-81), Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education (1981-82), and Chairman for the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1982-90).

Other appointments and duties:
In 1982, he was named Chairman of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and served in that capacity until 1990.

Literature:
Commencement Address: Syracuse University College of Law (1991)

More Biographical Information:

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