Statesman Charles Evans Hughes was born on April 11, 1862, in Glens Falls, New York. Hughes attended Madison (now Colgate) University before transferring to Brown University, where he graduated third in his class. He then attended Columbia Law School, from which he graduated with highest honors in 1884. After graduating Hughes joined a law firm and was made a partner within four years. From 1891 to 1893 he took a brief break from practicing law to teach at Cornell Law School. After that, he returned to his law career, though he would also work as a special lecturer from time to time at Cornell and New York University Law School.