North Carolina Bar Association Reports: "Judge Donna Stroud was sworn in as chief judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals on Jan. 1, 2021. A native of Kinston, she is a graduate of Campbell University (B.A.), Campbell Law School (J.D.) and Duke University School of Law (LL.M.) After 16 years in private practice she became a District Court judge in Wake County. Chief Judge Stroud was elected to the Court of Appeals in 2006 and re-elected without opposition in 2014. She has been an active member of the North Carolina Bar Association throughout her career, but her involvement with the NCBA stretches even further. In 1982, as a senior at Kinston High School, she won the first essay contest conducted by the NCBA Young Lawyers Division in conjunction with its Law Day celebration. She participated in the following interview on Jan. 27." "What was your initial reaction to being appointed chief judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and how did that appointment come about? I was very pleased and honored. Obviously, 2020 was a very unusual year in many ways, but since I would be the senior judge we had assumed I would be the next chief. I had been preparing during the last year because Chief Judge Linda McGee was retiring, but I did not know for sure if I would be appointed because the chief justice makes that decision and the results of that election were delayed. . . ." Continue Reading

"The swearing-in occurred at the Carteret County Courthouse and was administered by Chief Justice Paul Newby."