Diane P. Wood is the Director of the American Law Institute, a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago, and a retired U.S. Circuit Judge from the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. She served on the court from 1995 through 2024, and from 2013 to 2020 she was the Chief Judge of the Circuit. She began her legal career as a law clerk for Judge Irving L. Goldberg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit (1975–76), and then as a law clerk for Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court (1976–77). She then worked briefly at the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser, in the Economic, Business, and Commerce section, after which she practiced at the law firm of Covington & Burling for several years. At that point she turned to her academic career, spending one year at Georgetown University Law Center before moving to the University of Chicago Law School in 1981, where she still teaches. She was a professor, and she served as associate dean (1987–90). She was awarded the Harold J. and Marion F. Green chair in International Legal Studies in 1990. From 1993 to 1995, she was the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust in the U.S. Justice Department, where she handled international relations, appellate work, and legal policy. Her academic specialties include civil procedure, antitrust, and international business regulation. Honors include the Sherman Award from the Department of Justice; appointment as a lecturer at the Hague Academy of International Law; membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and service as Chair of its Council; and several honorary degrees. She received her B.A. (1971) and her J.D. (1975) from the University of Texas.