U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan assumed the duties of chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on Nov. 2, according to a news release from the court.
Corrigan, 64, who serves in the Jacksonville Division, succeeds U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday of the Tampa Division.
Merryday was chief judge Aug. 1, 2015, to Nov. 1.
Former President George W. Bush appointed Corrigan to the federal court in 2002. Corrigan previously served six years as a U.S. magistrate judge.
He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree from Duke University School of Law.
After graduating from Duke, Corrigan was a law clerk for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat and later spent 14 years in private practice.
One of Corrigan’s initiatives as chief judge is to expand the court’s communication with members of the Bar and increase the court’s accessibility to the public, the release states.