Arthur Joseph Gajarsa (born March 1, 1941) is a former

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the Federal judiciary of ...

Early life and education

Gajarsa was born on March 1, 1941, in

Norcia Norcia (), traditionally known in English by its Latin name of Nursia (), is a town and comune in the province of Perugia (Italy) in southeastern Umbria. Unlike many ancient towns, it is located in a wide plain abutting the Monti Sibillini, a su ...

, in the province of

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He was the top ranked student in the 1958 graduating class at

Boston Technical High School The John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science (abbreviated as O'B), formerly known as Boston Technical High School is a college preparatory public exam school along with Boston Latin School and Boston Latin Academy. The O’Bryant specia ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He matriculated at the

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he was admitted to the

Zeta Psi Zeta Psi () is a collegiate fraternity. It was founded in June 1, 1847 at New York University. The organization now comprises fifty-three active chapters and thirty-four inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand members, and is a f ...

fraternity, graduating in 1962 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He then received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in 1964, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from Georgetown University Law Center in 1967.Joint Committee on Printing, ''Official Congressional Directory, 2009-2010'' (2010), p. 850-51.

Career

Prior to law school, Gajarsa served as a

patent examiner A patent examiner (or, historically, a patent clerk) is an employee, usually a civil servant with a scientific or engineering background, working at a patent office. Major employers of patent examiners are the European Patent Office (EPO), the Unit ...

with the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...

from 1962 to 1963, and was then a patent adviser to the U.S. Air Force from 1963 to 1964, and a patent adviser to the firm of Cushman, Darby and Cushman from 1964 to 1967. He was a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Judge Joseph Charles McGarraghy of the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...

from 1967 to 1968. He was an Attorney with Aetna Life and Casualty, Inc. from 1968 to 1969. He was a special counsel for the

Commissioner of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal government of the United States, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

United States Department of Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

from 1969 to 1970. He was in private practice of law in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, from 1971 to 1997.

Federal judicial service

Gajarsa was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

on January 7, 1997, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Helen W. Nies. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on July 31, 1997, and received commission on August 1, 1997. He entered service on September 12, 1997. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on July 31, 2011. His service terminated on June 30, 2012, due to retirement.

Publications

He has authored ''Recent Developments in Antitrust'' for the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

in 1967-69, and ''The

European Common Market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

Antitrust Laws'', Catholic University, 1967. He has also published numerous articles on economics and law.

Post judicial service

On November 3, 2010, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announced that Gajarsa would replace Samuel F. Heffner as Chairman of the Board at the start of 2011. In the fall of 2012, Gajarsa joined the

University of New Hampshire School of Law The University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law is a public law school in Concord, New Hampshire, associated with the University of New Hampshire. It is the only law school in the state and was founded in 1973 by Robert H. Rines as ...

as its first Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence at the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property. In honor of Gajarsa, UNH Law co-founded the Arthur J. Gajarsa American Inn of Court, which is the newest member of the national Linn IP Inn Alliance. The Inn was launched in

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, on September 13, 2012.

Awards and honors

*Bausch and Lomb Medal, 1958 *Benjamin Franklin Award, Boston Technical High School, 1958 *JFK Award for Public Service, 1974 *Sun and Balance Medal, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1990 *Gigi Pieri Award, Camp Hale Association, Boston, MA, 1992 *Rensselaer Key Alumni Award, 1992 *125th Anniversary Medal, Georgetown University Law Center, 1995 *Order of Commendatore, Republic of Italy, 1995 *Alumni Fellow Award, Rensselaer Alumni Association, 1996 *Albert Fox DeMers Medal, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1999 *Paul R. Dean Award, Georgetown University Law Center, 1999 *Lifetime Achievement in Jurisprudence & Italian American Leadership, Order Sons of Italy in America, 2009

Personal life

Gajarsa and his wife, Melanie have five children.

References

External links

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Board of Trustees
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gajarsa, Arthur Joseph 1941 births Georgetown University Law Center alumni Italian emigrants to the United States Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Living people Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Catholic University of America alumni United States court of appeals judges appointed by Bill Clinton 20th-century American judges John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics & Science alumni 21st-century American judges