Mary Elizabeth "Beth" Phillips (born 1969) is the Chief United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri The United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri (in case citations, W.D. Mo.) is the federal judicial district encompassing 66 counties in the western half of the State of Missouri. The Court is based in the Charles Evans ...

Early life and education

Phillips was born in Kirksville, Missouri in 1969. She received two degrees from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, 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 ...

in 1991 and 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. Th ...

in 1992. Phillips then earned her Juris Doctor from the

University of Missouri School of Law The University of Missouri School of Law (Mizzou Law or MU Law) is the law school of the University of Missouri. It is located on the university's main campus in Columbia, forty minutes from the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. The ...

in 1996.

U.S. Attorney

On September 30, 2009, 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 ...

nominated Phillips to serve as 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 Western District of Missouri. She 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 December 24, 2009.

Federal judicial service

On June 7, 2011, President

nominated Phillips to a seat on

. She would replace Judge Ortrie D. Smith, who assumed senior status in 2011. She received a hearing before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

on September 20, 2011, and her nomination was reported to the floor of the Senate by a voice vote on October 13, 2011. On March 6, 2012, the United States Senate confirmed Phillips' nomination by a 95–2 vote. She received her commission on March 22, 2012. She was sworn in on March 23, 2012. She became Chief Judge on January 3, 2019.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Beth 1969 births Living people Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri People from Kirksville, Missouri United States Attorneys for the Western District of Missouri United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama 21st-century American judges University of Chicago alumni University of Missouri School of Law alumni Assistant United States Attorneys 21st-century American women judges