Washington, DC— Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., today announced the appointment of Judge Robert J. Conrad,Jr., as the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, effective March 1, 2024. He will succeed Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf who has served as Director since February 1, 2021, and who will retire from the Federal Judiciary on January 31, 2024. The Chief Justice also announced that Deputy Director Lee Ann Bennett will serve as Acting Director of the
Administrative Office for the month of February.
Conrad was a letterman on the Clemson basketball team between 1976-77 and 1979-80. His senior year he was the starting point guard on the only Clemson men’s basketball team in history to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
The native of Glen Ellyn, Illinois was an Academic All-American and was named the ACC’s James Weaver Award Winner as the league’s top student-athlete over all sports. Additionally he won Clemson University’s Norris Medal as the school’s Outstanding Student.
Conrad was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993 and received a Distinguished Service Award from the Clemson Alumni Association in 2015.
The Director of the Administrative Office is the chief administrative officer of the federal courts. The Director serves under the direction of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the principal policy-making body for the federal court system. The Chief Justice is the presiding officer of the Conference, which is composed of the chief judges of the 13 courts of appeals, a district judge from each of the 12 geographic circuits, and the chief judge of the Court of International Trade. The Chief Justice selects the Director.
In announcing the transition, the Chief Justice said, “I am grateful to Judge Mauskopf for guiding the AO with a steady hand through many challenges over the past three years and I congratulate her on more than four decades of continuous public service in a range of significant state and federal government roles. I wish her all the best as she returns to New York to begin the next phase of her legal career. I appreciate Deputy Director Bennett’s willingness to step in as Acting Director and her continued outstanding service to the Judiciary in this time of transition.
“And I welcome Judge Conrad to his new position. His long service to our branch in many important capacities makes him well suited to lead the AO in tackling the issues that the Judiciary faces now and in…