John R. Tunheim

John R. Tunheim
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
Incumbent
Assumed office July 1, 2015
Preceded by	Michael J. Davis
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
Incumbent
Assumed office December 26, 1995
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Donald D. Alsop
Personal details
Born	1953 (age 62–63) Thief River Falls, Minnesota, U.S.
Alma mater	Concordia College B.A. University of Minnesota Law School J.D.
Profession	Judge
Nickname(s)	Jack

John R. Tunheim (born 1953) is the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Biography

Tunheim was born in Thief River Falls, Minnesota in 1953. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1975. He obtained his legal education from the University of Minnesota Law School and received his Juris Doctor in 1980.

Tunheim then became a law clerk to Judge Earl Larson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota from 1980 to 1981, and was in private practice in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1981 to 1984. He was an attorney in the Office of the State Attorney General of Minnesota from 1984 to 1995, serving as an assistant state attorney general and the manager of the Public Affairs Litigation Division from 1984 to 1985, as Minnesota state solicitor general from 1985 to 1986, and as chief deputy state attorney general from 1986 to 1995.

He was an adjunct professor in the University of Minnesota Law School in 1994. Tunheim also served as chairman of the Assassination Records Review Board, which oversaw the collection of records relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, from 1994 to 1995.

Federal judicial service

On July 10, 1995, Tunheim was nominated by President Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota vacated by Donald D. Alsop. Tunheim was confirmed by the Senate on December 22, 1995, and received his commission on December 26, 1995. He became Chief Judge on July 1, 2015.

Sources

• John R. Tunheim at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Minnesota judge: CIA ‘probably misled’ panel he led on JFK assassination
• Judge John Tunheim to Chair Humphrey School Advisory Council. University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs (2009).