John M. Gerrard

John Melvin Gerrard (born November 2, 1953) is the Chief United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

Gerrard graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Science in 1976; from the University of Arizona with a Masters in Public Administration in 1977; and from McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific with a Juris Doctor in 1981. He is a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.

In 1995, Nebraska Governor Ben Nelson appointed Gerrard to the Nebraska Supreme Court. At 41 years of age, Gerrard was the youngest ever appointee to the Nebraska Supreme Court. He left the court in 2012 upon appointment to the federal bench. Prior to becoming a Supreme Court justice, he was in private practice in Norfolk, Nebraska from 1981 to 1995 and was City Attorney for Battle Creek, Nebraska from 1982 to 1995.

In January 2011, Ben Nelson, at that time a United States Senator from Nebraska, recommended Gerrard to fill a judicial seat on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska that would be vacated later that year by Judge Richard G. Kopf. On May 4, 2011, President Barack Obama formally nominated Gerrard to replace Kopf on the federal bench. The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary reported Gerrard's nomination to the Senate floor on October 13, 2011. The Senate confirmed Gerrard's nomination on January 23, 2012, by a vote of 74 ayes to 16 nays. He received his commission on February 6, 2012. He became Chief Judge on November 1, 2018.