A New York native, George Latimer graduated from Saint Michael’s College and Columbia Law School. He practiced labor law in Saint Paul from 1963 until he was elected mayor of Saint Paul in 1976. As mayor, Latimer focused on the redevelopment of Saint Paul’s downtown core, welcomed Hmong immigration, and introduced home ownership and supportive housing projects for low-income families, while protecting Planned Parenthood and the Hubert Humphrey Job Corps from zoning exclusion.
Latimer was chosen dean of Hamline Law School in 1990. During his tenure, the Dispute Resolution Institute gained a prominent national reputation; and he offered law school assistance to community members who went on to form the Children’s Law Center and the American Indian Policy Center, as well as students who started a Federalist Society chapter.
An expert on urban development, Latimer left the deanship in 1993 to serve as a special advisor to Henry Cisneros, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton. In 1996, he became a visiting professor of Urban Studies and Geography at Macalester College in Saint Paul. He also served as CEO of the National Equity Fund (1996-1998), which manages over 27,000 affordable housing units in 35 U.S. cities, and taught at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Session on Policy. In retirement, he has served as an arbitrator with his daughter Faith.