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State chief justice at MAC Thursday
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MONROE - Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Shirley Abrahamson will speak in the concert hall at the Monroe Arts Center at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 18. The topic will be the institution she has served on since 1976. This event is free and open to the public. A reception will immediately follow Abrahamson's presentation and the question and answer session, downstairs in the Frehner Gallery.

Shirley Abrahamson was the first woman on the Wisconsin Supreme Count when she was appointed in 1976. She won election in 1979, and re-election in 1989, 1999, and 2009. She has served as chief justice since 1996.

She was born and raised in New York City and received her bachelor's degree from New York University. She holds a law degree from Indiana University Law School and a doctorate of law in American legal history from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

She has received 15 honorary doctor of laws degrees and the Distinguished Alumni Award of the UW-Madison.

In 2004, she received the American Judicature Society's Dwight D. Opperman Award for Judicial Excellence.

She is a fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an elected member of the American Philosophical Society.

Before her appointment to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, she practiced law in Madison for 14 years, taught as a faculty member of the University of Wisconsin Law School, and lectured at Marquette University Law School.

The Monroe Arts Center's Corporate Season Underwriter is The Swiss Colony and the Media Season Underwriters are Monroe Publishing and Big Radio.