Ann Claire Williams (born August 16, 1949) is a retired United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She is currently of counsel at Jones Day. Early life and education Williams was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Dorothy and Joshua, who were both public school teachers. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Wayne State University in elementary education and a Master of Arts in guidance and counseling from the University of Michigan. Williams taught in Detroit Public Schools students before attending law school. She received her Juris Doctor from Notre Dame Law School. Professional career After law school, Williams worked as a law clerk for Judge Robert A. Sprecher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She was one of the first two female African-American law clerks to work at that court. She then worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago for nine years, trying major felony cases and appearing before the Seventh Circuit. She was the first woman of color to serve as supervisor in that office and was promoted to deputy chief and chief of the criminal division. She became the first chief of the Organized Drug Enforcement Task Force in 1983, responsible for organizing federal investigation and prosecution activities for a five-state region. In 1979, Williams began serving as an adjunct professor and lecturer at Northwestern University School of Law and at John Marshall Law School. Later, as a judge, she continued teaching trial advocacy at Chicago area law schools and Harvard Law School. She has taught in more than 150 trial advocacy and deposition programs with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) in the United States and Europe. Federal judicial service Williams was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1985 until 1999. President Ronald Reagan nominated her on March 13, 1985, to a newly created seat on the court, and she was confirmed by the Senate on April 3, 1985. She received her commission on April 4, 1985. Her confirmation made her the first woman judge of color appointed to serve on a district court in the three-state Seventh Circuit. Her service terminated on November 17, 1999, due to