President Barack Obama has nominated Kansas University law school graduate Mary H. Murguia to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Murguia is currently serving as an Arizona district judge, and became the first Latina to serve on the federal bench for the District of Arizona when President Bill Clinton appointed her to that position in 2000.

Murguia graduated from KU law school in 1985, and received bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and journalism from KU in 1982.

She is a former state and federal prosecutor and is the twin sister of Janet Murguia, president and chief executive officer of La Raza, a Latino civil rights and advocacy organization. Janet Murguia also earned a KU law degree and served as KU’s executive vice chancellor for university relations before accepting her current position.