INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Gov. Mitch Daniels has named a Tippecanoe County judge as the first woman on the Indiana Supreme Court in 13 years.

Daniels announced the appointment of Loretta Rush at the Statehouse.

Rush is the first female justice since Myra Selby stepped down in 1999 after five years on the court.

She is the third justice Daniels has appointed to the five-member court in the past two years. She replaces Justice Frank Sullivan, who stepped down after 19 years on the court.

The 54-year-old Pennsylvania native says she puts an emphasis on the needs of children. In 1998, she survived an attack by a former juvenile client who invaded her home and tried to kill her husband.