By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — An Upper West Sider has made the shortlist to replace Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who announced his retirement last Friday.
Elena Kagan was born and raised in the Upper West Side before being appointed by President Barack Obama as the nation's first woman solicitor general, the New York Daily News reported.
She also has ties to the Upper East Side after attending Hunter College High School on 94th Street were she graduated in 1977. Her brother is now a teacher and her mother taught for several years at the prestigious school, the paper reported.
Kagan, 49, graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. She later became the Dean of Harvard Law School and is credited with attracting talented faculty members to the school.
Kagan also worked as a clerk for former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and served as a policy adviser and lawyer during Bill Clinton's presidency, according to the New York Times.
Kagan was a leading candidate to replace Supreme Court Justice David A. Souter in 2009, the Times reported. However, President Obama selected Sonia Sotomayor instead, a Bronx-born Greenwich Village resident.
