Marjorie O. Rendell
First Lady of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Marjorie Osterlund Rendell became the 43rd First Lady of Pennsylvania when her husband, Governor Edward G. Rendell, was sworn in as Governor of Pennsylvania on January 21, 2003. 

Judge Rendell, a cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, received her Juris Doctor degree from the Villanova University School of Law in 1973.  Upon graduation from law school, she joined the law firm of Duane, Morris & Heckscher, where she subsequently became the firm’s second woman partner.  Over the course of her 20-year career as a practicing attorney, she specialized in bankruptcy law and commercial litigation, served as a mediator for the United States District Court, and was a frequent speaker at law-related seminars and panels. 

Inducted as a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in March of 1994, Judge Rendell was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in November of 1997.  She is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, an inaugural member and Master of the Villanova University School of Law J. Willard O’Brien Inn of Court, an elected member of The American Law Institute, and a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Federal Judges Association, the American Judicature Society, and the National Association of Women Judges. 

In October 2004, she was awarded the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Sandra Day O’Connor Award, an award given annually to a woman attorney whose career in the legal profession has demonstrated: her superior legal talent and significant achievements within the legal community; her advocacy for the advancement and equal treatment of women in the profession and in the community at large; and her mentoring of other women in the legal profession. 

Judge Rendell has served on the boards of many charitable and civic organizations.  She is currently a member of the Board of Overseers for the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and a member of the Board of Directors of Avenue of the Arts, Inc and of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.  She is also a founding member of the Trustees Council of Penn Women. 

As First Lady, Judge Rendell’s primary initiative focuses on imparting civic responsibility to our children through civic learning.  She is a member of the National Advisory Council of the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, and is a lead partner of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Representative Democracy (PennCORD).  She feels it is important to cultivate a shared concern for citizenship, so that our children can gain an understanding of our representative democracy and foster a greater understanding of their rights and responsibilities as young citizens in the democratic process.  The First Lady also promotes Pennsylvania’s rich history, partners with the Pennsylvania Commission for Women on its initiatives and is a frequent speaker to student and women’s groups across the Commonwealth. 

The Rendells have been married over 35 years and have an adult son, Jesse, and a daughter-in-law, Beka.  Additionally, they enjoy the company of their two golden retrievers, Ginger and Maggie.