Weidner named a “transformative” law school dean
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW Dean Donald J. Weidner is one of the last decade’s nine transformative law school deans, according to legal blogger and University of Chicago Law School Professor Brian Leiter. The criterion for inclusion on Leiter’s list is changing an institution, especially its intellectual identity and scholarly profile. Leiter states that Weidner “has been a successful fundraiser and skilled navigator of Florida’s choppy political waters, at the same time presiding over some of the best faculty hiring by any regional law school in the country, as reflected in periodic raids of FSU by top 10 law schools. Yet even with occasional losses, Dean Weidner has sustained the scholarly momentum of the law school.” The eight other deans deemed transformative by Leiter are: Michael Fitts (University of Pennsylvania), Heidi Hurd (University of Illinois), Elena Kagan (Harvard University), Kenneth Randall (University of Alabama), Daniel Rodriguez (University of San Diego), Kent Syverud (Vanderbilt University), David Van Zandt (Northwestern University), and Patricia White (Arizona State University).
