Judge Bruggink was appointed Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims on April 15, 1986 and entered on duty April 21, 1986. He is a cum laude graduate of Auburn University, receiving a B.A. degree in sociology in 1971 and an M.A. degree in speech in 1972. Judge Bruggink received his J.D. in 1975 from the University of Alabama School of Law, where he was a Hugo Black Scholar and Note and Comments Editor of the Alabama Law Review. Judge Bruggink was appointed Director, Office of Appeals Counsel of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board in November 1982, and served in that position until his appointment as Judge of the Court of Federal Claims. He formerly served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Frank H. McFadden of the Northern District of Alabama, and as an associate with the law firms of Steiner, Crum & Baker in Montgomery, Alabama, 1979-1982, and Hardwick, Hause & Segrest in Dothan, Alabama, 1976-1977. He was Assistant Director of the Alabama Law Institute from 1977 to 1979, during which time he established the Office of Energy and Environmental Law and served as its first director. Born in Kalidjati, Indonesia, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1960, and speaks Dutch. Judge Bruggink is married to the former Melinda Harris, and has two sons, John and David. He is a member of the Alabama State Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, and the Federal Circuit Bar.