Hufstedler, Shirley M. (Shirley Mount), 1925-2016

Shirley Ann Mount Hufstedler (August 24, 1925 – March 30, 2016) was an American attorney and judge who served as the first United States Secretary of Education under President Jimmy Carter from November 30, 1979 to January 20, 1981. At the time of her secretarial appointment, she was the highest ranking-woman in the federal judiciary, serving as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Born in Denver, Colorado, she was raised in New Mexico, Montana, California, and Wyoming, ultimately earning a B.B.A. degree from the University of New Mexico and an LL.B. degree from Stanford University. Initial attempts to begin her career after graduating proved to be difficult. Ultimately, she opened up her own office in Los Angeles in 1951. From there, she managed to make her way to the Attorney General's Office. She served as Special Legal Consultant to the Attorney General of California in the complex Colorado River litigation before the United States Supreme Court from 1960 to 1961. In 1961, she was appointed Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, by Governor Pat Brown, a position to which she was elected in 1962 as a Democrat. At the time she was appointed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, she was the only female in a group of 119 men. Judge Shirley M. Hufstedler is widely credited with introducing tentative rulings to American courts while sitting in Los Angeles Superior Court. In 1966, she was appointed Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeals.

Hufstedler was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 17, 1968, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 82 Stat. 184. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 12, 1968, and received her commission on September 12, 1968. Her service terminated on December 5, 1979, due to her resignation. President Jimmy Carter appointed her to be the first United States Secretary of Education in 1979. As the first Secretary of Education, Hufstedler's agenda has been depicted as being focused on strengthening state and federal interrelationships, as well as educational equity. Her dedication toward educational needs helped set precedent in the importance of its existence, even later preventing President Ronald Reagan's attempts to dismantle it all together after he beat President Carter in 1980.

Hufstedler was considered to be a candidate for the Supreme Court if a vacancy had occurred under the Jimmy Carter presidency. In 1981, Hufstedler returned to private life, teaching and practicing law. She was a partner in the firm Hufstedler & Kaus, now merged into Morrison & Foerster. She taught across the country, including stints at the University of California at Irvine and Santa Cruz, the University of Iowa, the University of Vermont, Stanford Law School, and the University of Oregon. Hufstedler died in Glendale, California, from cerebrovascular disease at the age of 90. She is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale).