Amalya Lyle Kearse

Amalya Lyle Kearse (born June 11, 1937 in Vauxhall, New Jersey)Goldstein, Tom. "Amalya Lyle Kearse; Woman in the News", "The New York Times", June 25, 1979.] is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. She took senior status in 2002.

Her father was a postmaster and her mother was a doctor. She attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. A philosophy major and 1959 graduate of Wellesley College, she was the only black woman in her law school class at the University of Michigan Law School. She was an editor of the law review and graduated "cum laude" in 1962.

She entered private practice in New York City and rose to become a partner in the respected Wall Street firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed.

She was the first woman and only the second black person (after Thurgood Marshall) appointed to the Second Circuit. In 1992, she was considered by President Bill Clinton for appointment as United States Attorney General; the job eventually went to Janet Reno.

Kearse is regarded as a courtly, low-key, center-left jurist.

Bridge career

Off the bench, Kearse is perhaps best known as a world-class bridge player. In 1986, playing with longtime partner Jacqui Mitchell, she won the World Women Pairs Championship which earned her the title of World Bridge Federation World Life Master. She is also a seven-time U.S. national champion of the game.

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame (Blackwood Award) 2004

Awards

* Charles H. Goren Award (Personality of the Year) 1980

Wins

* World Women's Pairs (1) 1986
* North American Bridge Championships (6)
** Women's Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1990
** Women's Knockout Teams (1) 1987
** Women's Swiss Teams (1) 1991
** Life Master Women's Pairs (1) 1972
** Women's Pairs (2) 1971, 2004
* United States Bridge Championships (1)
** Women's Team Trials (1) 1992

Runner-ups

* North American Bridge Championships (3)
** Mixed Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1996
** Women's Knockout Teams (1) 1991
** Women's Swiss Teams (1) 2001
* United States Bridge Championships (3)
** Women's Team Trials (3) 1988, 1995, 2004
* Other notable 2nd places:
** IOC Grand Prix Women's Teams (1) 2002

References

External links

* [http://www.acbl.org/about/hall-of-fame/biography.php?id=38 ACBL Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.worldbridge.org/people/person.asp?qryid=8899 World Bridge Federation profile]