MSU alumna Debra M. Brown to become 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s first Black female chief federal judge
STARKVILLE, Miss.—51³Ô¹ÏÍø State alumna and U.S. District Judge Debra M. Brown is set to become the Magnolia State’s first Black female chief federal judge.
A ceremony will be held Friday at the U.S. Courthouse in Greenville where Brown will receive the gavel and become the new Chief Judge of the Northern District of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø. She succeeds District Judge Sharion Aycock, also an MSU alumna, in the role of chief judge.
Brown has served as a district judge since being nominated by former president Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2013. She is a 1987 graduate of MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design. Brown worked professionally as an architect before pursuing law school and graduating from the University of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø School of Law in 1997.
Prior to being appointed as a judge, Brown practiced law at Wise Carter Child & Carraway and Phelps Dunbar law firms in Jackson. She has served as president of the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Women Lawyers Association. Among her professional accolades, she was the 2004 recipient of the Jackson Young Lawyers Outstanding Service Award and named as one of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Leading Businesswomen in 2008 by the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Business journal. In 2014, she was recognized as the MSU College of Architecture, Art and Design’s Alumna of the Year.
MSU is 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s leading university, available online at .