Elena Kagan Events

1960 Apr 28 Elena Kagan is Born
Kagan was born in New York City, the middle of three children, on the city's Upper West Side. Her mother, Gloria Gittelman Kagan, taught fifth and sixth grade at Hunter College Elementary...
1981 Elena Kagan Graduates Summa Cum Laude From Princeton University
A native of New York City, Kagan earned an A.B. with highest honors in history in 1981. She received the 1981 Daniel M. Sachs Class of 1960 Graduating Scholarship and attended Worcester C...
1983 Elena Kagan Earns a Masters of Philosophy from Oxford University’s Worcester College
At Princeton, Kagan was awarded the Daniel M. Sachs Memorial Scholarship — a top honor — which took her to Great Britain where she eventually earned a M.Phil degree from Worcester College...
1986
to 1987
Elena Kagan Becomes Law Clerk For Judge Abner Mikva
Kagan's Washington career began in 1986 when she clerked for Abner J. Mikva, a liberal judge who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Her exemplary work ethic didn't ...
1986 Elena Kagan Graduates from Harvard Law School
She received a juris doctor, magna cum laude, at Harvard Law School in 1986, where she was supervisory editor of the Harvard Law Review. Friend Jeffrey Toobin recalled Kagan at Harvard La...
1987
to 1988
Elena Kagan Becomes Law Clerk For Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court
she clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court. (Justice Marshall, ascended to the court after serving as solicitor general.) Justice Marshall called her, Ka...
1991 Elena Kagan Becomes Assistant Professor at University of Chicago Law School
Kagan became an assistant professor at the U of C Law School in 1991, and rose to become a tenured professor four years later. She remained on the faculty until 1997. Her time at the ...
1995
to 1999
Elena Kagan Serves on the Clinton Administration
In 1995, she took a job in the Clinton White House serving as associate counsel to the president and then deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy. She was nominated by Clint...
2003 Apr 3 Elena Kagan Named Dean of Harvard Law School
Professor of Law Elena Kagan will be the next Dean of Harvard Law School, President Lawrence H. Summers announced today. A leading scholar of administrative law, Kagan has served on th...
2009 Jan 5 Elena Kagan Nominated as Solicitor General
On January 5, 2009, President-elect Barack Obama announced he would nominate Kagan to be Solicitor General. Before this appointment she had limited courtroom experience. She had never arg...
2010 May 9 President Barack Obama Nominates Elena Kagan for Supreme Court Justice
On May 9, 2010, it was reported that President Obama had chosen Kagan as his nominee to succeed Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. If confirmed by the Senate, Kagan would be the fir...
2010 Jun 28 Day 1 of Elena Kagan's Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
Kagan began her opening statement by honoring the memory of her parents, immigrants she said taught her of the value of the opportunities afforded to Americans. She also said that if c...
2010 Jun 29 Day 2 of Elena Kagan's Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
Questioners were sometimes strangely complimentary, with Senator Graham inviting Kagan to engage in a mutual admiration colloquy on the wonders of Judge Miguel Estrada. (Graham even extra...
2010 Jun 30 Day 3 of Elena Kagan's Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
Today, Elena Kagan’s testimony before the Judiciary Committee seemed inconsistent with the memos she wrote on partial-birth abortion during her time in the Clinton White House. Durin...
2010 Jul 1 Day 4 of Elena Kagan's Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
Confident but still cautious. Smart and then some. Disarming. Knowing. Wicked funny. This week's Senate confirmation hearings were America's first and probably last chance for an in-de...
2010 Aug 7 Elena Kagan Is Sworn In As Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court Of The United States
Elena Kagan was sworn in as the 112th U.S. Supreme Court justice and its fourth woman ever, taking the oath of office at the high court two days after the Senate confirmed her. Kagan, ...