The Honorable Ida K. Chen
From left, Peggy O'Neill, Legal Education Institute special projects coordinator; Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas Judge Ida Chen; Law Dean Linda L. Ammons; Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille; Widener Assistant Dean Eileen Grena, who directs the Legal Education Institute.
Born in Hong Kong, Judge Ida Chen has lived in Switzerland, Brazil and Indonesia.
She served as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from 1976 to 1986, where she litigated cases of employment discrimination based on sex, race, color, national origin, religion, pregnancy, age, and equal pay, in the various federal courts from Massachusetts to West Virginia. In 1986, Judge Chen was appointed by Mayor W. Wilson Goode, as the first Asian American to serve on the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR).
In 1987, she was appointed by Governor Robert Casey, as the first Asian American female to serve as a judge in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and in l989, was the first Asian American female to be elected in a city-wide campaign in Philadelphia. Since 1984, she has been an Adjunct Professor at Temple University School of Law and since 1985, she has been an Adjunct Professor at Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations.
In 2003, Judge Chen was appointed by Mayor John Street to chair the Ethics Committee of the Philadelphia 21st Century Review Forum, which issued a report and recommendations regarding ethics rules and protocols for the City of Philadelphia and resulted in the re-establishment of an Ethics Board for the City of Philadelphia, with powers to investigate and impose sanctions. In 2012, she chaired the United Way Ethics Task Force, which issued a report and recommendations regarding ethics rules and protocols affecting the School District of Philadelphia.
As the co-founder of the Asian American Women’s Coalition, Judge Chen recommended that the AAWC Board establish an endowed fund to provide college scholarships for deserving Asian female high school students.
Currently, she serves in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County, as a judge in the Family Court Division, handling civil domestic violence cases. She is a Board Member of the Samuel S. Fels Fund and Drexel University, as well as a Co-Chair for the Martin Luther King Day of Service.
Previously, Judge Chen has served on the Boards of the following organizations: William Penn Foundation, ActionAIDs, BEBASHI (Blacks Educating Blacks About Sexual Health Issues), Free Library of Philadelphia, Hahnemann University Hospital, and the National Constitution Center.
She served as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from 1976 to 1986, where she litigated cases of employment discrimination based on sex, race, color, national origin, religion, pregnancy, age, and equal pay, in the various federal courts from Massachusetts to West Virginia. In 1986, Judge Chen was appointed by Mayor W. Wilson Goode, as the first Asian American to serve on the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR).
In 1987, she was appointed by Governor Robert Casey, as the first Asian American female to serve as a judge in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and in l989, was the first Asian American female to be elected in a city-wide campaign in Philadelphia. Since 1984, she has been an Adjunct Professor at Temple University School of Law and since 1985, she has been an Adjunct Professor at Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations.
In 2003, Judge Chen was appointed by Mayor John Street to chair the Ethics Committee of the Philadelphia 21st Century Review Forum, which issued a report and recommendations regarding ethics rules and protocols for the City of Philadelphia and resulted in the re-establishment of an Ethics Board for the City of Philadelphia, with powers to investigate and impose sanctions. In 2012, she chaired the United Way Ethics Task Force, which issued a report and recommendations regarding ethics rules and protocols affecting the School District of Philadelphia.
As the co-founder of the Asian American Women’s Coalition, Judge Chen recommended that the AAWC Board establish an endowed fund to provide college scholarships for deserving Asian female high school students.
Currently, she serves in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County, as a judge in the Family Court Division, handling civil domestic violence cases. She is a Board Member of the Samuel S. Fels Fund and Drexel University, as well as a Co-Chair for the Martin Luther King Day of Service.
Previously, Judge Chen has served on the Boards of the following organizations: William Penn Foundation, ActionAIDs, BEBASHI (Blacks Educating Blacks About Sexual Health Issues), Free Library of Philadelphia, Hahnemann University Hospital, and the National Constitution Center.
