Beverley McLachlin
Madam Justice McLachlin, 1965 BA, 1968 MA, 1968 LLB, 1991 LLD(Honorary), was named chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1999. She is the first woman to be appointed to that position, and has distinguished herself as a leading thinker on the bench. She graduated from the University of Alberta law school in 1968, winning its gold medal. She went on to practise law in Edmonton; Fort St. John, British Columbia; and Vancouver.In Vancouver, Madam Justice McLachlin joined the faculty at the University of British Columbia law school, earning a reputation as a vigorous scholar and quickly becoming an associate professor. In 1981, she was appointed to the County Court of Vancouver. Appointments to BC's Supreme Court and then its Court of Appeal soon followed.
In 1988, she was named Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The following year, Madam Justice McLachlin's meteoric rise in the judiciary was capped by her appointment to our nation's highest court, the Supreme Court of Canada.
In 1994, she was one of the original inductees to the University of Alberta's Alumni Wall of Recognition as a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. McLachlin also is a 2001 recipient of the University of Alberta Alumni Association's Award of Excellence.