''For the 19th-century baseball player, see

Frank Whitney (baseball) Frank Thomas Whitney (February 18, 1856 – October 30, 1943) nicknamed "Jumbo", was an American Major League Baseball player. He played outfield for the 1876 Boston Red Caps. His younger brother, Art Whitney Arthur Wilson Whitney (January 16, ...

.'' Frank DeArmon Whitney (born November 22, 1959) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (in case citations, W.D.N.C.) is a federal district court which covers the western third of North Carolina. Appeals from the Western District of North Carolina are take ...

Education and career

Born in

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, Whitney received a

Bachelor of Arts 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 year ...

degree from

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

in 1982 where he was a member of the ROTC program and inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He earned a joint Juris Doctor and

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

degree from the

University of North Carolina School of Law The University of North Carolina School of Law is the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Established in 1845, Carolina Law is among the oldest law schools in the United States and is the oldest law school in North Caro ...

and the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, respectively, in 1987. He entered private practice 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, ...

, in 1987. From 1988-89 he was a law clerk for Judge David B. Sentelle of the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate co ...

before returning to private practice from 1989-90. He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the

Western District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (in case citations, W.D.N.C.) is a federal district court which covers the western third of North Carolina. Appeals from the Western District of North Carolina are tak ...

from 1990-2001. He was in private practice in Charlotte from 2001 to 2002, and was then the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

Eastern District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (in case citations, E.D.N.C.) is the United States district court that serves the eastern 44 counties in North Carolina. Appeals from the Eastern District of North Caroli ...

from 2002-06.

Federal judicial service

Whitney was nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on February 14, 2006, to a seat on the

vacated by Harold Brent McKnight. Whitney 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 June 22, 2006, and received his commission on July 5, 2006. He served as Chief Judge from June 2, 2013 to June 2, 2020.

Military service

Whitney attended The JAG School at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. He served in the United States Army JAG Corps from 1982 to 2012. According to a JAG Corps historian, he is the first federal judge to serve as a military judge presiding over

courts-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

in a combat theater. He also presided over the last court martial in Iraq before the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.

References

External

*
Resume
at the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, Frank DeArmon 1959 births Living people American military lawyers United States Army personnel of the Iraq War Assistant United States Attorneys Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina Lawyers from Charlotte, North Carolina United States Army colonels United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of North Carolina United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush 21st-century American judges Charlotte Country Day School alumni University of North Carolina School of Law alumni Wake Forest University alumni The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School alumni