Dana Fabe

Senior Justice Dana Fabe served on the bench in Alaska for nearly 28 years, and she continues to serve the court in a pro-tem capacity, as well as conducting a private mediation practice. She was appointed to the Alaska Supreme Court in 1996 and was the first woman to serve on the court and as Chief Justice. She served three terms as Chief Justice and is only the second justice in the court’s history to serve three terms in that role. She clerked for Justice Edmond W. Burke of the Alaska Supreme Court in 1976-77; served as a staff attorney for the Alaska Public Defender Agency from 1977-81; and served as Chief Public Defender for Alaska from 1981-88 by appointment of the Governor.  In 1988, she was appointed to the superior court bench in Anchorage where she served as deputy presiding judge and training judge.  She  co-chaired the Alaska Fairness and Access Commission and currently co-chairs the Statewide Evaluation Panel for Alaska’s Magistrate Judges.  She has also served as co-chair of the Advisory Committee of the Center for Judicial Ethics at the National Center formState Courts. She is a past President of the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ)  and founded two of its signature programs: Success Inside and Out, an NAWJ reentry program for women prisoners and Mentor Jet, an NAWJ mentoring program for students on careers in law.  Her national awards include the 2017 Sandra Day O’Connor Civic Education Award, presented by the National Center for State Courts; the 2012 Distinguished Service Award, presented by the National Center for State Courts; and the 2012 Justice Vaino Spencer Leadership Award, presented by the National Association of Women Judges. She is also one of the initial 2009 inductees of the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame and was named a YWCA Woman of Achievement in 2002. She is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and an elected member of the American Law Institute.  She received her B.A. from Cornell University and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.