Biography

September 14, 1970 · Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Ketanji Onyika Brown

5′ 1″ (1.55 m)

She is related (via marriage) to former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Her husband's (Patrick G. Jackson) twin brother, William, is married to Paul's sister-in-law, Dana.

On February 25, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated her to become the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. She was confirmed by a 53-47 vote of the U.S. Senate on April 7, 2022, making her the very first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. She is also the first public defender the sit on the United States Supreme Court.

Graduated from Harvard University.

While she was a student at Harvard University, in her drama class she was a scene partner to future Academy Award winner Matt Damon.

[on her historic confirmation to Supreme Court] It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States, but we've made it. We've made it, all of us. In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court

[on her historic confirmation to Supreme Court while thanking her family] This is all pretty exciting for me, but nothing has brought me greater joy than being your mother