Chancellor Claudia C. Bonnyman received a B.S degree from the University of Tennessee in 1970. and a J.D. in 1974 from the Vanderbilt School of law. At Vanderbilt, she was awarded Order of the Coif. Upon earning a law degree, she clerked for Justice William J. Harbison of the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Chancellor Bonnyman was appointed to the Chancery bench by Governor Phil Bredesen in September 2003. She was appointed Clerk and Master for Chancery in 1989 and was reappointed by the then sitting chancellors in 1995 and 2001. Before working in Chancery , she was a partner with Ortale, Kelly, Herbert and Crawford and in earlier years, a partner at Waddey and Jennings. She served as Assistant District Attorney in the office of the District Attorney Tom Shriver.

Chancellor Bonnyman married Gordon Bonnyman, Jr in 1970, . He is director of the non-profit Tennessee Justice Center. They have one son, Houston Gordon Bonnyman, a recent graduate of Colorado College.