Barbara D. Underwood

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Barbara D. Underwood (born August 16, 1944) is New York Solicitor General.

Underwood was born in Evansville, Indiana, to Dr. Robert Underwood and Mildred Underwood. She grew up in Belleville, New Jersey, and is the eldest of three daughters. She was appointed to her position by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in January 2007.

Underwood graduated from Radcliffe College in 1966 and received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969. After graduation, Underwood clerked for Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and then Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court. After leaving the court, Underwood was a law professor for 10 years at the Yale Law School. She also has taught at Brooklyn Law School and at New York University School of Law.

In 1998, Underwood was appointed by United States Attorney General Janet Reno to be Principal Deputy Solicitor General under Solicitor General Seth P. Waxman. Underwood worked in the Clinton administration's Department of Justice for three years, and became Acting Solicitor General in the first six months of the George W. Bush administration, from January to June 2001.

Underwood has lived in New York City since 1982. She is married to Martin Halpern, a composer, librettist, poet, playwright, and former Brandeis University professor of playwriting and dramatic literature. They live in Brooklyn and have one son, Robert, born in 1986.

Underwood is the cousin of actress Betty Aberlin, best known for playing Lady Aberlin on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.