Elena Kagan timeline

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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.... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more