Elected 1946, Day 1; served to 1949

It took the Supreme Court to break the clerical hold on Presidency. The Hon. Justice Owen Josephus Roberts, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, was the first lay president of the House of Deputies. Justice Roberts was born in Philadelphia in 1875. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with his B.A. in 1895 and his LL.B. in 1898, he was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania from 1898 to 1918, working his way up from instructor to full professor. After 1918 he divided his time between his law practice and service on various government boards and agencies, until his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1930, where he served until his retirement in 1945. Justice Roberts passed away in Philadelphia in 1955.