William Odis Bertelsman

William Odis Bertelsman is a senior judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Bertelsman was born in 1936 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He received a bachelor's degree from Xavier University in 1958 and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1961. After law school, he joined his father's law firm in Newport, Kentucky and practiced there until 1979. During these years, Bertelsman also served as a captain in the US Army (1963-1964) and as a lecturer at the University of Cincinnati College of Law (1965-1972). In 1979, President Jimmy Carter nominated him to serve as a judge for the Eastern District Court, to a seat newly authorized by 92 Stat. 1629. The Senate confirmed his nomination on November 26, 1979. During his time on the bench, Bertelsman served as chief judge from 1991 to 1998, as a member of the Judicial Conference from 2005 to 2006, and taught at Salmon P. Chase College of Law. He assumed senior status on February 1, 2001.