Rya W. Zobel

Rya Weickert Zobel
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Incumbent
Assumed office April 1, 2014
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
In office March 23, 1979 – April 1, 2014
Appointed by	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Seat established by 92 Stat. 1629
Succeeded by	Allison Dale Burroughs
Personal details
Born	(1931-12-18) December 18, 1931 Zwickau, Germany
Education	Radcliffe College (A.B.) Harvard Law School (LL.B.)

Rya Weickert Zobel (born December 18, 1931) is a Senior United States District Court Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Education and career

Born in Zwickau, Germany, Zobel received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Radcliffe College in 1953 and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1956. She was a law clerk to George Clinton Sweeney, then Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts from 1956 to 1966. She was in private practice in Boston, Massachusetts from 1967 to 1979.

Federal judicial service

On January 25, 1979, Zobel was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts created by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 21, 1979, and received her commission on March 23, 1979. Among her judicial duties, she was director of the Federal Judicial Center from 1995 to 1999. She assumed senior status on April 1, 2014. Zobel served as a judge in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal.

Sources

• Rya Weickert Zobel at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.