ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Honorable Consuelo M. Callahan has been selected to receive the prestigious 2014 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Ninth Circuit. The award will be presented in July at the Ninth Circuit’s Annual Judicial Conference in Monterey, California, by Deanell Reece Tacha, dean of Pepperdine University School of Law.

Callahan was the first judge from the Eastern District of California to sit on the court of appeals since the elevation of Anthony M. Kennedy to the Supreme Court of the United States in February 1988. She was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President George W. Bush on May 28, 2003. She maintains her chambers at the U.S. Courthouse in Sacramento.

A graduate of Stanford University, Callahan earned her J.D. at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law—she recently delivered the commencement address to this year’s graduating class—and her LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law. She has served on the university’s Board of Regents for nine years and is chair of the Academic Affairs/Student Life committee.

During her career, Callahan devoted many years to public service, holding various roles in the City of Stockton and San Joaquin County. She served as court commissioner of the Municipal Court of Stockton and judge of the Superior Court of the State of California before being appointed to the federal bench.

Callahan served as president of the Anthony M. Kennedy American Inn of Court from 2000 to 2003, and continues to serve as its Master of the Bench. She was honored by her colleagues with the creation of the Judge Consuelo M. Callahan American Inn of Court at Humphreys College Laurence Drivon School of Law in Stockton in 2006.

The American Inns of Court, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, fosters excellence in professionalism, ethics, civility, and legal skills. The organization’s membership includes more than 30,000 federal, state, and local judges; lawyers; law professors; and law students in more than 360 chapters nationwide and more than 97,000 alumni members. More information is available at www.innsofcourt.org.