Loretta Preska

Loretta Preska
Preska in 2012
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Incumbent
Assumed office March 1, 2017
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
In office 2009 – May 31, 2016
Preceded by	Kimba Wood
Succeeded by	Colleen McMahon
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
In office August 12, 1992 – March 1, 2017
Appointed by	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Robert Joseph Ward
Succeeded by	Mary Kay Vyskocil
Personal details
Born	(1949-01-07) January 7, 1949 (age 75) Albany, New York, U.S.
Spouse	Thomas J. Kavaler ​ (m. 1983)​
Children	2
Education	College of Saint Rose (BA) Fordham University (JD) New York University (LLM)

Loretta A. Preska (born January 7, 1949) is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.^[1] Born in Albany, Preska received law degrees from Fordham University School of Law and New York University School of Law. She practiced law in New York City from 1973 to 1992 at the law firms of Cahill Gordon & Reindel and Hertzog, Calamari & Gleason (now Winston & Strawn). President George H. W. Bush appointed her to the district bench in 1992. She served as chief judge of the court for a seven-year term from 2009 to 2016, and took senior status in 2017. President George W. Bush nominated Preska to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2008,^[2] but the Senate did not act on the nomination.