Ruth Bader Ginsburg talks about her nickname, gender equality during 1st public appearance since cancer treatment

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday made her first public appearance since undergoing treatment for cancer, accepting an honorary degree from the University at Buffalo School of Law.

On Friday, the Supreme Court announced that doctors discovered a malignant tumor on her pancreas in July, and she went through three weeks of radiation. "The tumor was treated definitively and there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body," the statement said. "No further treatment is needed at this time."

Ginsburg, 86, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999, pancreatic cancer in 2009, and had two cancerous growths removed from her lung in December. She only talked about her health once on Monday, saying, "I did not withdraw when my own health problems presented challenges."

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During her speech and a question and answer session, she joked about her nickname, saying it was "beyond my wildest expectation that I would one day become the Notorious R.B.G.," and discussed her work for gender equality. "The progress I have seen in my lifetime makes me optimistic for the future," Ginsburg said. "Our communities, nation, and world will be increasingly improved as women achieve their rightful place in all fields."