Robin Ransom

Robin Ransom (formerly Robin Ransom Vannoy; born July 21, 1967) is an American lawyer who serves as a judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri. She was appointed to the court in 2021 by Governor Mike Parson, and is the first African-American woman to hold the position. Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court, Ransom served on the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District from 2019 to 2021 and served on the St. Louis Circuit Court from 2008 to 2019.

Early life and education Robin Ransom was born on July 21, 1967, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her father was a firefighter and social worker. She graduated from Rosati-Kain High School and Rutgers University–New Brunswick's Douglass Residential College with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and sociology in 1988, and graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1991. She became a prosecutor in St. Louis County in 1995 and in 2002 was appointed as a juvenile family court commissioner in St. Louis. Also in 2002, she was appointed as an associate justice by Governor Bob Holden. Ransom's peers on the court unanimously elected her to serve as presiding judge in 2018, succeeding Michael Mullen; she was the first African-American woman to hold this position. After receiving the list of three candidates, Parson decided on Ransom within one day, though he had up to 60 days to finalize a decision.