List of Chief Judges of the New York Court of Appeals
Chief Judges since 1974
Table:
Name

Took office

Left office

Notes

Lawrence H. Cooke
January 23, 1979[5]
December 31, 1984

First Chief Judge appointed by the Governor under constitutional amendment of 1977; age-limited

Sol Wachtler
January 2, 1985
November 11, 1992

Resigned[6]

Richard D. Simons (acting)
November 17, 1992
March 22, 1993

Acted until the appointment of a successor

Judith S. Kaye
March 23, 1993
December 31, 2008

Reached mandatory retirement age; Chief Judge with the longest tenure (more than 15 years), only Chief Judge to complete a 14-year term

Jonathan Lippman
February 11, 2009[7]

December 31, 2015[8]

Eugene F. Pigott, Jr. (acting)
January 1, 2016

January 21, 2016[9]

Janet DiFiore
January 21, 2016

incumbent

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