Vanessa Diane Gilmore (born October 1956) is a judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. She was appointed to this position by President Bill Clinton in 1994. At that time, she was the youngest sitting federal judge in the United States. She was also the first graduate of the University of Houston to be appointed to the federal bench.Gilmore was Born in St. Albans, New York and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland.