Justice Andrew J. McDonald is a Connecticut native. Born in Stamford on March 11, 1966, he attended public schools there before entering college. After graduating from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988, he earned a Juris Doctor degree, with honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1991, where he served as the Managing Editor of the Connecticut Journal of International Law. Justice McDonald also holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Western New England University School of Law. In January of 2013, Governor Dannel P. Malloy nominated Justice McDonald to be an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, and he was confirmed by the Connecticut General Assembly later that month. He was sworn into office on January 24, 2013. In January of 2021, Governor Ned Lamont re-nominated Justice McDonald to the Supreme Court, and later that month he was again confirmed by the General Assembly. In addition to his service as an associate justice, Justice McDonald also serves as the Chairman of the Connecticut Criminal Justice Commission and the Chairman of the Rules Committee of the Superior Court. Justice McDonald is the senior associate justice of the Supreme Court.