Judge Sylvia H. Rambo, a longstanding federal judge who has served Central Pennsylvania for 45 years, has announced her retirement effective August 30th. Rambo, who was nominated by then-President Jimmy Carter in 1979, has had a distinguished career in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Her tenure in the Midstate extends decades prior to her federal appointment.
Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Rambo received her bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College in 1958 and her law degree from the Dickinson School of Law in 1962, where she was the only woman in her class. She began her career as an attorney for the Trust Department of the Bank of Delaware before starting a private practice in Carlisle in 1963. She operated that practice through 1976 and also served as a public defender.
In 1976, she became Cumberland County’s first female chief public defender and was appointed to the Cumberland County bench later that year, serving one term. She was nominated by President Carter in 1979 to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Rambo served as chief judge from 1992 through 1999, a first for a woman in the Middle District.
In 2022, the federal courthouse in Harrisburg was named in her honor, making her one of the few women to have a federal courthouse named after them. Her last day will be August 30.