On Wednesday, legal educator and LGBTQ rights activist Anthony S. Niedwiecki took over as president and dean at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul.
Niedwiecki was dean and professor of law at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, before becoming the second president and dean at Mitchell Hamline, which was formed in 2015 through the combination of William Mitchell College of Law and Hamline University School of Law.
Niedwiecki’s focus is to expand the school’s staffing and programming around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Mitchell Hamline is one of the largest law schools in the region, with about 1,200 students and 40 full-time faculty.
“Students from all backgrounds should feel welcomed and supported at Mitchell Hamline,” Niedwiecki said in a statement. “Our job is to meet students where they are and equip them with a legal education so they can make the changes they desire in their own lives, their communities and society as a whole.”
Niedwiecki has spent 25 years working in law. He started as an associate at two firms in Texas before moving into legal education in 1998. He’s held a variety of law school faculty and administrative positions.
Niedwiecki also brings experience in online instruction after developing a partially online program at Golden Gate. In 2015, Mitchell Hamline created the nation’s first hybrid online/on-campus Juris Doctor program at an American Bar Association-approved law school and is launching the latest evolution of that program this fall.
Niedwiecki is the first openly gay president and dean at Mitchell Hamline or any of its predecessor schools, and one of few openly LGBTQ law school deans in the country.
In 2007, he founded Fight OUT Loud, an organization that advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. He has received numerous awards for his advocacy on LGBTQ issues.
Niedwiecki takes over from interim president Peter B. Knapp. The first president, Mark C. Gordon, led the law school from 2015 to 2019 and remains on the faculty.
