Emily Clark Hewitt (born May 26, 1944) is a former judge and chief judge of the

United States Court of Federal Claims The United States Court of Federal Claims (in case citations, Fed. Cl. or C.F.C.) is a United States federal court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. It was established by statute in 1982 as the United States Claims Court, ...

Early life

Hewitt was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. She graduated from the

Roland Park Country School Roland Park Country School (RPCS) is an independent all-girls college preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It serves girls from kindergarten through grade 12. It is located on Roland Avenue in the northern area of Baltimore ...

in Baltimore and in 1966, she earned an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

. She received an

M.Phil. The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

degree from the Union Theological Seminary in New York City in studies focusing on religion and education, and was ordained to the diaconate of the Episcopal Church in 1972.

Career

Episcopal church and early career

Hewitt is considered a leader of the effort to open Episcopal ordination to women. Hewitt was one of the Philadelphia Eleven, the first eleven women ordained to the Episcopal priesthood on July 29, 1974. Hewitt served from 1973–1975 as assistant professor of religion and education at Andover Newton Theological School in

Newton Centre, Massachusetts Newton Centre is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The main commercial center of Newton Centre is a triangular area surrounding the intersections of Beacon Street, Centre St ...

. She has also served as lecturer at the Union Theological Seminary and, from 1967 to 1969, as administrator of the Cornell/Hofstra Upward Bound Program at the Union Settlement House in East Harlem. She graduated with honors from Harvard Law School in 1978, where she was a member of the

Harvard Legal Aid Bureau The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau ("HLAB") is the oldest student-run legal services office in the United States, founded in 1913. The bureau is one of three honors societies at the law school, along with the ''Harvard Law Review'' and the Board of Stu ...

. She also holds a D.Min. degree from the

Chicago Theological Seminary Founded in 1855, the Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) is the oldest higher education institution in the City of Chicago and was established with two principal goals: first, to educate pastors who would minister to people living on the new west ...

for studies focusing on

liberty of conscience Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. Overview Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by ...

Law practice

Hewitt practiced from 1978 to 1993 with the Boston law firm Hill & Barlow. She was made a partner in 1985, and served as chair of Hill & Barlow's real estate department from 1987 to 1993. While with Hill & Barlow, Hewitt served on charitable, civic, and professional boards and committees and as a continuing education lecturer on real estate law.

Federal government work

Hewitt served as General Counsel of the

United States General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...

from 1993 to 1998, overseeing the legal activities and responsibilities of the agency. She served as GSA's chief ethics official, as chief legal advisor to the Administrator and other GSA officials, and as a member of GSA's management committee. While at GSA, Hewitt served as a government member of the Administrative Conference of the United States and as a member of the President's Interagency Council on Women. She also served as a continuing education lecturer on procurement law reform, procurement integrity, alternative dispute resolution, and government law office management.

Federal judicial service

Hewitt was commissioned as a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims 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 October 22, 1998. In 2006, she was appointed by Chief Justice

John G. Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including '' Nat ...

to serve on the Financial Disclosure Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

designated Hewitt to serve as Chief Judge on March 11, 2009. She served as chief judge until President Obama designated

Patricia E. Campbell-Smith Patricia Elaine Campbell-Smith (born 1966) is a Federal tribunals in the United States#Article I tribunals, judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims and former Chief Special Master of that court. She served as Chief Judge from October 21 ...

to serve as Chief Judge on October 21, 2013 at which time Hewitt's term as chief judge and 15-year term as a judge of the Court ended.

Personal life

In addition to hundreds of legal opinions, Hewitt is the author or co-author of more than two dozen publications on legal and religious topics. Hewitt is an accomplished long distance race walker. She won a U.S. national race walking medal in 1987 and has won many national masters medals. She has walked more than a dozen marathons including the Boston, New York and United States Marine Corps Marathons. She is also an avid hiker of the National Park trails of the American West. Hewitt is married to Eleanor D. Acheson (born 1947), who served as

Assistant Attorney General of the United States Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

during the Clinton Administration. Acheson is the daughter of

David Campion Acheson David Campion Acheson (November 4, 1921 – August 16, 2018) was an American attorney. Son of one time United States Secretary of State Dean Acheson, he worked for the United States Atomic Energy Commission and served as an assistant to former Tr ...

(born 1921), a lawyer who worked on the

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President ...

and served as an assistant to former

Treasury secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

Henry H. Fowler Henry Hammill Fowler (September 5, 1908 January 3, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Early life and career Fowler was born in Roanoke, Virgi ...

, and the granddaughter of lawyer and former Secretary of State Dean Acheson (1893–1971) and his wife Alice (1895–1996).

References

Material in this article was copied from the website of the

, a publication of the United States government in the public domain.

External links

* *
Official Congressional Directory: 113th Congress
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitt, Emily Clark 1944 births Living people 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American judges American Episcopal priests Andover Newton Theological School faculty Chicago Theological Seminary alumni Cornell University alumni Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims Lawyers from Baltimore LGBT Anglican clergy LGBT appointed officials in the United States LGBT judges LGBT lawyers LGBT people from Maryland United States Article I federal judges appointed by Bill Clinton Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) faculty Women Anglican clergy