Robert N.C. Nix Jr., 75; First Black Chief Justice of Any State
Robert N.C. Nix Jr., 75, the first black chief justice of any state, died Friday in suburban Philadelphia from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
Nix broke several judicial barriers to African Americans, including becoming, in 1972, the first black justice named to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He became chief justice in 1984 and served until his retirement in 1996.
Born in Philadelphia, Nix carried on a family tradition of firsts. His father was Pennsylvania’s first black congressman, and his grandfather was a high-ranking college dean. Nix graduated from Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School and served in the Army.
He began his legal career as a deputy attorney general for Pennsylvania, then spent a decade as a prominent attorney in the civil rights movement as partner in the firm Nix, Rhodes & Nix. In 1968 he was appointed to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, where he served until he was named to the state’s high court.
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