Superior Court Judge Nina F. Elgo, nominated by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy this week to serve on the state Appellate Court, is a native daughter of Norwich and a graduate of Connecticut College.

Elgo, who now lives in West Hartford, is the daughter of Norwich residents Nilda and Loreto Elgo. She was honored with a Native Daughter Award in 2015 by the Norwich Rotary and Women's City Club. At the ceremony, she credited her parents for giving her a solid foundation and stressed that her school years in Norwich paved the way for her career. She said she had been "graced not only by my own family but the larger family that is this community."

If confirmed by the General Assembly along with Malloy's other nominee, Judge Maria Araujo Kahn of Cheshire, Elgo would serve on the first Appellate Court in state history represented by a majority of female judges.

"I am profoundly grateful to Governor Malloy for nominating me to the appellate bench," Judge Elgo said in a news release announcing her nomination. "I am humbled by the Governor's confidence in me and the prospect of serving with my colleagues on the Appellate Court in service to the people of this state. If approved by the General Assembly, I will strive to prove worthy of that trust."

Elgo attended John B. Stanton Elementary School. She went to Kelly Junior High School for seventh grade. She was in the first eighth-grade class to attend the new Teachers' Memorial School in 1975, and graduated from Norwich Free Academy in 1980. Elgo graduated from Connecticut College with a degree in government studies and worked as a paralegal in Boston before attending Georgetown University Law Center, where she graduated in 1990.

She worked as an assisant attorney general representing the state Department of Children and Families until 2004, when, at age 41, Gov. John G. Rowland nominated her to be a Superior Court judge.

Elgo currently is assigned to the civil division in the judicial district of Hartford. Her previous assignments include presiding judge of the statewide child protection session docket in Middletown, the juvenile division in the judicial district of New Haven, the criminal division in the judicial districts of Hartford and Enfield, as well as the habeas corpus docket in Tolland county.

"Selecting judicial nominees to fill vacancies in the court is a very critical function of the executive branch because these are the men and women who will serve as the final arbiters of justice in our state government," Governor Malloy said in his news release. "I am honored to nominate these two distinguished judges for elevation to the Appellate Court. Throughout both of their tenures on the bench, they have proven themselves to be fair, reasoned jurists who have served with distinction."

"The Governor's nominations not only bring two notable jurists up to the Appellate Court system, but also mark a historic shift in the constitution of the bench," Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman said. "I applaud the Governor on these nominations and thank Judges Elgo and Kahn for their diligence and service to Connecticut."

Elgo and Kahn would fill vacancies on the Appellate Court that were created by the recent retirement of Judges F. Herbert Gruendel and Robert E. Beach Jr., who took senior status.