Pamela Minzner | New Mexico justice, 63

New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Pamela Minzner, 63, the state's first female chief justice, died of cancer Friday in Santa Fe, the court said.

Ms. Minzner had been on the state's highest court since 1994, the second woman ever to serve on the five-member panel.

She was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1994 to fill a vacancy and was elected to the seat in 2002 for an eight-year term. She served as chief justice in 1999-2000.

Ms. Minzner received her law degree in 1968 from Harvard University, where she was one of just 22 women in a class of more than 500.