Steven James McAuliffe (born March 3, 1948) is a senior United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire The United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire (in case citations, D.N.H.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of New Hampshire. The Warren B. Rudman U.S. Courthouse for the New Hampshir ...

. He is the widower of

Christa McAuliffe Sharon Christa McAuliffe ( Corrigan; September 2, 1948 – January 28, 1986) was an American teacher and astronaut from Concord, New Hampshire, who was killed on the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' on mission STS-51-L where she was serving as a ...

, one of the victims of the 1986 Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster.

Education and career

Born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, he attended Marian High School in

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...

, where he met his future wife Christa Corrigan. He graduated from the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

with 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 in 1970. His wife had his VMI ring with her on the shuttle; his classmates replaced the ring after her death. McAuliffe studied law at

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

from 1970 to 1973, receiving a Juris Doctor. McAuliffe 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 ...

and entered U.S. Army JAG Corps. He was a captain in the JAG Corps from 1973 to 1977. From 1977 to 1980, he was an assistant attorney general in New Hampshire. He was in private practice 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 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 to the nor ...

, from 1980 until his appointment to the federal bench in 1992.

Federal judicial service

McAuliffe was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on September 9, 1992, to a seat on the

vacated by

Norman H. Stahl Norman H. Stahl (January 30, 1931 – April 8, 2023) was an American lawyer who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He was formerly a United States district judge of the United Sta ...

. 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 October 8, 1992, and received his commission on October 10, 1992. He served as Chief Judge from 2004 to 2011. He assumed

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

on April 1, 2013.

Personal life

McAuliffe continues to serve as a founding director for the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. He has two children, Scott and Caroline, with his first wife,

Christa Christa may refer to: * Christa (given name), a female given name * Janusz Christa (1934-2008), Polish comics author * ''Swedish Fly Girls'', a 1971 film also known as ''Christa'' * 1015 Christa, an asteroid See also

* Christ (disambiguation) ...

; they were nine and six, respectively, when she died as a result of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster. In early 1992, he married Kathleen E. Thomas, a reading teacher for the Concord School District, and mother of two children.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McAuliffe, Steven J. 1948 births Living people New Hampshire lawyers Georgetown University Law Center alumni United States Army officers Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush 20th-century American judges Lawyers from Cambridge, Massachusetts Military personnel from Massachusetts 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges