Sandra Day O’Connor – 1930

After receiving unanimous Senate approval, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman to serve on the nation’s highest court. After 24 years of service, she retired in 2006 but has garnered various awards. She founded iCivics, an online civics education program for middle school pupils, in 2006.

O’Connor was born in 1930 and spent part of her childhood on her family’s Arizona ranch. She moved on to the university’s law school, where she finished third in her class in 1952. Due to a shortage of opportunities for female legal counsels at the time, O’Connor struggled to find work and ended up working for free for the county attorney of California’s San Mateo region to get her foot in the door. She soon advanced to the position of the deputy county prosecutor.