HON. JOSEPH L. TAURO has served as a judge of the U.S. District Court since 1972. He was elevated to the position of chief judge in 1992. His prior public service includes that as U.S. attorney for Massachusetts and as chief legal counsel to the governor of Massachusetts. A graduate of Brown University and of Cornell Law School, Judge Tauro practiced law for a number of years with his own firm, and is admitted to the bar associations of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. He has been a visiting professor at Boston University School of Law and is a trustee of Brown University. For many years, Judge Tauro served as trustee of the Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston, as well as of Massachusetts General Hospital. He has been a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States and has served on its committees on codes of conduct and the jury system. Judge Tauro has received honorary degrees from Boston University, Northeastern University, Suffolk University, the University of Massachusetts, New England School of Law, and Brown University. He has also received the Cornell Law School Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Brown University Brown Bear Award, the Massachusetts Bar Association Hennessey Leadership Award, and the Boston Bar Association Citation of Judicial Excellence.  (April 2011)