Judge Strand currently serves as a member of the Committee on Automation and Technology of the Judicial Conference of the United States and was appointed to the court in July of 1985 after having served for 17 years as a judge of the Superior Court of Arizona. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, was on the faculty of the National Judicial College, served as a member of the National Center of State Courts Jury Standards Task Force, and chaired the Federal Judicial Center's Committee on District Judge Education. Judge Strand holds a Flight Instructor's and a Commercial Pilot's Certificate.