Frances Marie Tydingco-Gatewood (born January 21, 1958) is an American attorney and jurist serving as the Chief United States district judge of the federal

District Court of Guam The District Court of Guam (in case citations, D. Guam) is a United States territorial court with jurisdiction over the United States territory of Guam. It sits in the capital, Hagåtña. Appeals of the court's decisions are taken to the United ...

Early life and education

Tydingco-Gatewood was born on January 21, 1958, in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territories of the United States, organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from Ap ...

. She attended George Washington High School, in Mangilao, Guam and obtained her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in political science at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

in 1980. She received her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law in 1983.

Legal career

She began her legal career as a law clerk for Forest W. Hanna on the circuit court of

Jackson County, Missouri Jackson County is located in the western portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 717,204. making it the second-most populous county in the state (after St. Louis County). Although Independence retains ...

from 1983 to 1984. In 1984, she became the first female Chamoru assistant Attorney General of Guam. She served as assistant attorney general in that office until 1988. She then worked with the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office in Missouri as an assistant prosecutor from 1988 to 1990. While in the Missouri office, She was assigned to the Drug Team and Homicide Unit and served as the Trial Team Leader for the Sex Crimes Unit. Subsequently, she served as chief prosecutor for the District of Guam from 1990 to 1994 at the Office of the Attorney General.

Judicial career

Superior Court of Guam

In 1994, she was appointed by Governor

Joseph F. Ada Joseph Franklin Ada (born December 3, 1943), better known as Joseph F. Ada, is an American (U.S. citizen) politician who served as the 5th Governor of Guam from 1987 to 1995. Before his accession to the governorship, Ada previously served as the ...

as a trial judge of the Superior Court of Guam.

Supreme Court of Guam

On September 1, 2001, she was appointed by Governor Carl Gutierrez as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Guam. She was sworn in on February 8, 2002 and served in that position until October 29, 2006.

United States District and Bankruptcy Courts of Guam

Tydingco-Gatewood was nominated as a United States District Judge of the

by President George W. Bush on April 25, 2006. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...

on August 3, 2006. Chief Judge Tydingco-Gatewood is only 1 of 2 judges in the entire federal judiciary who sits as both a district and bankruptcy judge. She was renominated on May 18, 2016, by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

to another ten-year term on the court. On January 3, 2017, her nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the 114th Congress. She is currently sitting as a “holdover” judge and awaiting potential reappointment at this time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tydingco-Gatewood, Frances 1958 births Living people 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges American prosecutors American women lawyers Chamorro people Guamanian judges Guamanian lawyers Marquette University alumni Missouri lawyers People from Honolulu United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush University of Missouri School of Law alumni