TEN WOMEN IN U.S. LEGAL HISTORY #10: Janet Reno (July 21, 1938 - ) was the first woman to serve as Attorney General of the United States. Reno was born in Miami, Florida, was a chemistry major at Cornell University and then graduated Harvard University Law School in 1963. Reno was elected State Attorney for what is now Miami-Dade County in Florida in 1978, and served 4 terms. She was nominated and confirmed as Attorney General in 1993 and served for the remainder of President Bill Clinton’s presidency, making her the longest-serving Attorney General since 1829. Reno’s years as Attorney General were rife with controversy, with Department of Justice actions such as the Waco standoff with David Koresh and the armed seizure of Elian Gonzalez, whose father eventually took him home to Cuba. Reno’s tenure as Attorney General also included the captures and convictions of the Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing and those responsible for the World Trade Center bombing (resulting in life-sentences for Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and four conspirators). Retired from public service, Reno now serves on the board of directors for the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization that assists prisoners who could be exonerated through DNA testing.