Robert Bruce King

Robert Bruce King (born January 29, 1940) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Early life and education King was born in 1940 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. His father died when King was only ten, leaving his mother, Gladys, a widow at thirty-one. Gladys raised King and his two siblings while working in a kitchen at The Greenbrier resort, all the while instilling in them the importance of hard work and education. King and his sister would later endow a scholarship at West Virginia University in honor of their mother's dedication to her children and their education. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia University in 1961, King entered active duty in the United States Air Force and served as an officer in the Office of Special Investigations. After his discharge in 1964, he returned to Greenbrier County to work as a teacher. While teaching, he met his future wife, a fellow teacher named Julia Kay Doak, and the two wed in April 1965. The following year, King enrolled at West Virginia University College of Law, where he was a member of the West Virginia Law Review and president of the Student Bar Association. He graduated Order of the Coif in 1968.