About Our Commencement Speaker

D. Brooks Smith, Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, has served on the Third Circuit since 2002. He was Chief Judge of that court from October 2016 to December 2021.

Judge Smith is the only judge in the history of the Circuit to have served as both a chief district judge and chief circuit judge. Prior to his elevation to the Third Circuit, Judge Smith was the Chief Judge of the U.S District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He joined the District Court in 1988.

Judge Smith has served by appointment of the Chief Justice of the United States on the Judicial Conference of the United States (JCUS) Space and Facilities Committee. In the 1990s, he served on the JCUS Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the JCUS from 2019 to 2021.

He currently chairs the Third Circuit’s “Courts, Community and Rule of Law” Committee.

Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, Judge Smith was a judge on the Court of Common Pleas of Blair County, Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Blair County, Pennsylvania; and the managing partner in a law firm.

He resides in Altoona, Pa., with his wife of more than 40 years, Karen.