A fourth generation Kansan, Julie Robinson is the first African American named to the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. Judge Robinson received her undergraduate and juris doctor degrees from the University of Kansas, where she later was an instructor in trial practice for the law school and president of its board of governors. After law school, Judge Robinson was a law clerk for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin E. Franklin from 1981 to 1983. She then became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 10 years, handling civil and criminal cases. When Judge Franklin died, Judge Robinson was appointed to fill his vacancy on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas, where she served for eight years. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Judge Robinson to the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. She now sits on the federal bench in Topeka. Judge Robinson is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and received the Distinguished Public Service Award from Baker University.  Judge Robinson is Chair of the Court Administration and Case Management Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States.