Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix Jr. (July 13, 1928 – August 23, 2003) served as the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1984 to 1996. Nix was the first African-American Chief Justice of any state's highest court, and the first African American to be elected to statewide office in Pennsylvania. He served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for 24 years, 12 of which were as chief justice, and was a prominent figure in Pennsylvania law and public service for more than three decades. Personal life Nix was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 1928. He was the son of Robert N. C. Nix Sr., the first of Pennsylvania's African American Representative in the United States Congress and a powerhouse among city Democrats. Nix's grandfather was Nelson Cornelius Nix, who was born into slavery but eventually became a minister and an academic dean of South Carolina State College at Orangeburg. Nix was a 1946 graduate of Central High School, a 1950 graduate and valedictorian of Villanova University, and a second-generation graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He was also a postgraduate of Temple University for Business Administration and Economics. Legal career After graduating from law school, Nix spent 2 years serving in the United States Army before becoming a Deputy Attorney General in 1956. After two years in the Attorney General's Office he joined his father's law firm, Nix, Rhodes and Nix, as a partner, where he gained a reputation as a civil rights advocate. During the 1960s, he represented United Neighbors, a citizens' group advocating improvements in a blighted section of West Philadelphia. He served as a member of the mayor's advisory committee on civil rights in 1963, where he raised questions about racial discrimination in city government hiring, and pushed for action against slumlords. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Nix commented that unless the nation made a commitment to racial equality, it faced "an internal conflagration that will reduce it to ashes." He also defended Philadelphia Magistrate Earl Lane in a 1966 case with political and racial overtones. Lane was accused of collecting $2 to $20 fees for signing copies of charges that released people accused of crimes, a procedure that was supposed to be free or, if bail was required, cost a dollar. Nix unsuccessfully sought a new judge and a change of venue for the trial,