The Supreme Court of North Carolina has recently unveiled a new portrait of Patricia Timmons-Goodson, the first African American woman to serve on the state’s highest court and the current dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law.
Timmons-Goodson’s career in public service has been marked by several historic milestones. In 1998, she became the first African American woman elected to an appellate court in North Carolina. She made history again in 2006 when North Carolina Governor Mike Easley appointed her to the state Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman to hold the position. She retired in 2012 after 28 years in the judiciary of North Carolina. In 2014, President Barak Obama appointed her to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Two years later, he nominated her for a federal judgeship.
In 2023, Timmons-Goodson was appointed to her current role as dean of the School of Law at North Carolina Central University, a historically Black university in Durham. She is an editorial board member for the American Bar Association Journal and co-chair of the board of the North Carolina Justice Center, a nonprofit that provides legal assistance to low-income North Carolinians.
Timmons-Goodson received her bachelor’s degree and juris doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She holds a master of laws degree from Duke University.
