Minnesota Lawyer
Anthony Niedwiecki has announced he will step down as dean of Mitchell Hamline School of Law when his current contract expires in June 2024.
In a letter to alumni posted Tuesday, Niedwiecki said he intends to focus on personal wellness after he and his husband, Waymon Hudson, “took stock recently when we celebrated our 20th anniversary, looking at the health issues we’ve both had in recent years as well as our quality of life. I realized I love serving as president and dean but feel like the all-consuming focus it demands is no longer what’s best for my family and me.”
Niedwiecki, who assumed his post in July 2020, wrote that he intends to return to teaching at Mitchell Hamline after taking a sabbatical. “Working directly with students has always been and remains my true passion,” he wrote.
Before joining Mitchell Hamline, Niedwiecki was dean and professor at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco for three years.
Niedwiecki, a native of Michigan, earned a bachelor’s degree in math and education from Wayne State University in Detroit, and he began his career as a high school and community college math teacher in North Carolina. He earned 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.
Along the way, Niedwiecki has maintained his status as an LGBTQ advocate. In 2007, he co-founded Fight OUT Loud, a nonprofit dedicated to countering discrimination and hatred. He also served as an Oakland Park, Florida, city commissioner and, briefly, vice mayor in 2009-10. He decided to forgo seeking another office in favor of re-entering academia.
Niedwiecki took a job at Chicago’s John Marshall School of Law in 2010. There he ended up as dean for academic affairs and director of the lawyering skills program. Seven years later, he was dean of Golden Gate’s law school.
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