In August 1999, Judge Ann Claire Williams was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit by President William Jefferson Clinton and was confirmed on November 10, 1999. She became the first African American ever appointed to the Circuit and the third African American woman to serve on any federal appeals court. Judge Williams was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She is the oldest of three daughters born to Dorothy and Joshua Williams. Her parents, both college graduates, were the inspiration for her success. Both stressed the importance of getting an education, setting high goals and having an unyielding belief in one's abilities to triumph over adversity.

Williams began her career as a music and third grade teacher in the inner city public schools of Detroit, Michigan, after graduating with a Bachelor's Degree from Wayne State University in Elementary Education and a Master's Degree in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Michigan while working full time. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Notre Dame.

Williams's legal career began as a law clerk with Judge Robert A. Sprecher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago for nine years, trying major felony cases and appearing before the Seventh Circuit. She was promoted to deputy chief of the criminal receiving and appellate division and ultimately became first Chief of the Organized Drug Enforcement Task Force.

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