Diane Wood

Diane Wood
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
In office
September 7, 2022  April 30, 2024
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
In office
October 1, 2013  July 3, 2020
Preceded byFrank H. Easterbrook
Succeeded byDiane S. Sykes
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
In office
June 30, 1995  September 7, 2022
Appointed byBill Clinton
Preceded byWilliam J. Bauer
Succeeded byJohn Z. Lee
Personal details
Born
Diane Pamela Wood

(1950-07-04) July 4, 1950
Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.
Spouse(s)Steve Van (Early 1970s)
(m. 1978; div. 1998)

(m. 2006)
Children6
EducationUniversity of Texas at Austin (BA, JD)

Diane Pamela Wood (born July 4, 1950) is an American attorney who serves as the director of the American Law Institute and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. She previously served as a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

After working in private practice and the executive branch, Wood became the third woman ever hired as a law professor at the University of Chicago Law School. President Bill Clinton nominated her to the Seventh Circuit on March 31, 1995. As a judge, she was considered a liberal intellectual counter to Richard Posner and Frank H. Easterbrook.