Anthony S. Niedwiecki
A longtime legal educator and activist on behalf of LGBTQ rights, Anthony Niedwiecki began serving as president and dean at Mitchell Hamline School of Law on July 1, 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, his installation ceremony was delayed until Sept. 23, 2021.
Previously dean and professor of law at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, Niedwiecki is 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. He is the first openly gay president and dean at Mitchell Hamline or any of its predecessor schools.
Niedwiecki practiced as an attorney for three years before moving into legal education in 1998. In addition to Golden Gate, he has held law school faculty and administrative positions at Temple University, Arizona State University, Nova Southeastern University, and John Marshall. His scholarly research focuses on metacognition and the need to better train students to transfer their learning to new and novel situations.
For more than two decades, Niedwiecki has advocated for social and racial justice as an academic, elected official, and community activist. In 2007, he founded Fight OUT Loud, an organization dedicated to helping people counter discrimination and hate directed at the LGBTQ community, and he has received numerous awards for his advocacy on LGBTQ issues. He has served as city commissioner and vice mayor of Oakland Park, Fla., as well as a member of the Broward County, Fla., Resource Recovery and Human Rights boards.
Anthony Niedwiecki Facts
Pronunciation: ned • WICK • ee
Twitter: @LawDeanAnt
Hometown: Livonia, Mich.
Spouse: Waymon Hudson
Dogs: Magnolia and Petunia
LL.M. in Legal Education
Temple University Beasley School of Law
J.D.
Tulane Law School
B.A.
Wayne State University
“I’d love to have a school of activists, fighting for what they think is important. It doesn’t have to be what I believe in, but they need to be fighting for things they think will positively change the world.”
Biography and bibliography
A native of Livonia, Michigan, Niedwiecki is the first member of his family to attend college. He earned a bachelor’s degree in math and education from Wayne State University in Detroit; a J.D., magna cum laude, from Tulane Law School in New Orleans; and an LL.M. in Legal Education from Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia.
Introducing Anthony Niedwiecki
Anthony Niedwiecki in the news
- Mitchell Hamline poised for justice reform effort, Villager newspaper, September 2020
- Niedwiecki’s up for a challenge, Minnesota Lawyer, August 2020
- New Mitchell Hamline School of Law Dean Anthony Niedwiecki on gay rights, COVID-19 and the ‘Trump bump’, Pioneer Press, August 2020
- Pride 2018: Law school dean a longtime advocate for equality, Bay Area Reporter, June 2018
- Golden Gate University law school dean fights homophobia and fear, San Francisco Business Times, June 2018