Background
Born and raised in Radford, Virginia, Conrad was the son of an elementary school teacher mother and a father who worked in the post office.
Born and raised in Radford, Virginia, Conrad was the son of an elementary school teacher mother and a father who worked in the post office.
College of William & Mary.
Conrad earned a bachelor"s degree from the College of William and Mary in 1971, where he wrote his senior thesis on the Republican Party. While writing that thesis, Conrad met James Clinton Turk, the federal district judge whom he eventually would succeed on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. Conrad then earned a law degree from the College of William and Mary"s Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 1974.
Conrad"s first job was as an interpreter/host at Colonial Williamsburg in 1974.
He then worked as a United States. probation officer for the Western District of Virginia from 1975 until 1976. In 1976, Conrad became a United States. magistrate for the United States. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
He served in that capacity until 2003. Conrad applied for a federal judgeship in 1990.
On April 28, 2003, President George West. Bush nominated Conrad to become a United States. district judge for the United States. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
"I felt like I had done just about all I could do with the responsibilities I had," Conrad told the Roanoke Times. The United States. Senate confirmed Conrad in an 89-0 vote on September 22, 2003. Conrad received his commission on September 24, 2003.
Since 2010 he has served as chief judge.
On May 8, 2008, President George West. Bush nominated Conrad to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, to fill the seat of H. Emory Widener, Junior., who had taken senior status in July 2007 (Widener died in September 2007). Bush had previously nominated William J. Haynes, II and East. Duncan Getchell, but both nominations failed after opposition from Democrats and some Republicans.
Conrad"s nomination to the Fourth Circuit expired upon the end of President Bush"s presidency in January 2009. Conrad"s wife, Mary Ann, is active in the Republican Party.