Program Book for the 250th Anniversary - Flipbook - Page 7
CHIEF JUSTICE DEBRA TODD
Madame Chief Justice Debra Todd was born in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, the daughter of the late Harry and Blanche
McCloskey. She is married to Attorney Stephan K. Todd. Chief Justice Todd is a graduate of Chatham College (with
honors) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law where she served on the Law Review. She earned her LL.M.
Degree in the Judicial Process from the University of Virginia School of Law. She began her career as an in-house
litigation attorney for U.S. Steel Corporation and then maintained a trial practice in the City of Pittsburgh with an
emphasis in complex civil litigation.
After serving as a Judge on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania from 2000 through 2007, she was elected to the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in November 2007, and was retained in November 2017 for a second 10-year term. She
became the first female Chief Justice of Pennsylvania on October 1, 2022.
Chief Justice Todd is an elected member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County and the American Law
Institute and is an alumna and former board member of Leadership Pittsburgh. She is a member of the Allegheny
County, Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations, and is a fellow of the Allegheny County and Pennsylvania Bar
Foundations. She is a frequent lecturer and panelist for continuing legal education programs on appellate practice and
procedure, ethics, elder justice, child abuse, and veterans’ issues. She chaired the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Elder
Law Task Force and is the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Liaison Justice to the Advisory Council on Elder Justice in the
Courts and the Pennsylvania Veterans Courts. She serves as a board member of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and
is a former Board President of Pittsburgh Action Against Rape. She volunteers her time as a high school musical judge
for the Pittsburgh CLO Gene Kelly Awards and, for over 10 years, coached the Seneca Valley Intermediate High School
Mock Trial Team.
In 2008 and in 2023, she was awarded Honorary Doctorate Degrees by Chatham University; and the University of
Pittsburgh School of Law honored her by unveiling a portrait of the Chief which is displayed at the Law School. In
February 2024 she was named USA Today’s Woman of the Year for Pennsylvania. In 2025, she was awarded an Honorary
Doctorate Degree by the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.
Chief Justice Todd has been the recipient of many honors and awards during her 26 years on the bench.
