Judge Ida Chen was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the United States from Indonesia. In July of 1988, Judge Chen became the first Asian American female to serve as a judge in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Presently, she presides in the Court of Common Pleas, the Family Court Division.

A graduate of Temple University School of Law, she previously served as a trial attorney with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from 1976 to 1986. In 1986, she was the first Asian American to be appointed to the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission (PHRC). In 2003 - 2004, she chaired the Ethics Committee of the 21st Century Review Forum for the City of Philadelphia. Currently, she is a member of the Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial & Ethnic Fairness which promotes the equal application of the law for all citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Since 1984, she has been an adjunct professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law and a lecturer for Cornell University School of Industrial & Labor Relations.