March 21, 2015, Declared Ellen Ash Peters ’54 Day in Connecticut by Governor Malloy

Governor Dannel Malloy has proclaimed that March 21, 2015, is Ellen Ash Peters ’54 Day in the state of Connecticut. In the governor’s official statement, he cites Peters’s accomplishments, including being the first woman tenured professor at Yale Law School, the first woman appointed to the Connecticut Supreme Court, and the first woman chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court.

The statement reads in part, “as we celebrate your birthday on March 21, 2015, we thank you for your contributions to the State of Connecticut, and to countless women across the country.”

Peters, former Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, presided over her final court session in 2014. She spent 22 years on the Supreme Court, including 12 in the highest position in the state judiciary, before transitioning to the Connecticut Appellate Court as a judge trial referee in 2000. Over the course of a momentous career, Justice Peters has been the first woman tenured professor at Yale Law School, the first woman appointed to the Connecticut Supreme Court, the first woman Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, and the first woman president of the Conference of Chief Justices. She received the Yale Law School Award of Merit in 1983. Yale awarded Justice Peters the Doctor of Laws honorary degree in 1985, shortly following her appointment as Chief Justice.