Pauline Newman

American federal judge (born 1927)

For labor activist and unionist, see Pauline Newman (labor activist) .

Pauline Newman (born June 20, 1927) is an American lawyer and jurist formally serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit . As of 2025, she is the longest-serving active federal judge , although she was suspended from her duties in September 2023 due to concerns about her productivity and cognitive ability, which she disputes.

Ranking among the most distinguished federal judges, she has been called "the heroine of the patent system", "the Federal Circuit's most prolific dissenter", and "the greatest ally to inventors with respect to [calling out] the ignorance of the [Federal Circuit], district courts, and at times even the Supreme Court". Chief Judge Kimberly A. Moore commented of Newman that "many of her dissents have later gone on to become the law—either the en banc law from our court or spoken on high from the Supremes".

Education and career

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Newman was born on June 20, 1927, in New York City , to Maxwell H. and Rosella G. Newman. Growing up during and in the aftermath of World War II , Newman "learned to fly planes, drive racecars and ride motorcycles". She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vassar College in 1947, with a double major in chemistry and philosophy, followed by a Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1948. She "sought to be a physician, but changed her mind", : 873  receiving a Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry from Yale University in 1952.

At the time, it was unusual for women to work in chemistry, and "no chemical firm would hire her except American Cyanamid ". As the sole female research scientist employed by that company, "her bosses tried to force her into becoming a librarian until she threatened to walk out". She worked as a research scientist for American Cyanamid from 1951 to 1954, during which time she was issued patents for "colorful, dirt-resistant synthetic fabric she helped invent". In 1954, she "took her savings and bought a ticket on a boat to Paris, where she supported herself by mixing drinks on the Île Saint-Louis " for six months, until her funds ran out.

Later in 1954, Newman returned to the United States and started working for FMC Corp. , receiving a Bachelor of Laws from New York University School of Law in 1958, and working as a patent attorney and in-house counsel , and for fifteen years (1969–1984) as director of the Patent, Trademark and Licensing Department. From 1961 to 1962 Newman also worked for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) as a science policy specialist in the Department of Natural Resources. She served on the State Department Advisory Committee on International Intellectual Property from 1974 to 1984 and on the advisory committee to the Domestic Policy Review of Industrial Innovation from 1978 to 1979. From 1982 to 1984, she was Special Adviser to the United States Delegation to the Diplomatic Conference on the Revision of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property . Over her career, Newman has received honors including the Wilbur Cross Medal of Yale University Graduate School, and the Award for Outstanding Contributions to International Cooperation from the Pacific Industrial Property Association. In 1982, while serving on a presidential committee on industrial stagnation for President Ronald Reagan , Newman helped create the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit . She has also been a "Distinguished Professor of Law" as an adjunct professor at the George Mason University School of Law .

Federal judicial service

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On January 30, 1984, President Ronald Reagan nominated Newman to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated by Judge Philip Nichols Jr. , who had assumed senior status on October 1, 1983. Newman was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 27, 1984, and received her commission the following day. Newman thus became the first judge appointed directly to the Federal Circuit, all of her predecessors having come to the court through the merger of the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the appellate division of the United States Court of Claims . Newman was also the only judge on the Federal Circuit who did not previously serve on a lower court .

Another judge of the Federal Circuit, Giles Rich , was the oldest active federal judge in the history of the United States when he died 10 days after his 95th birthday in 1999;

Newman surpassed that record on June 30, 2022, but "remains an active judge" and has been described as "the court's institutional memory bank".

In 2013, Newman was honored by NYU Law Women as their law alumna of the year.

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