College
Presidents
Eight
graduates of the University of Florida
Levin College of Law became presidents
of Florida colleges — including
UF — and one was president of
two. |
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BACKGROUND
The graduates (year of law degree) and their schools:
-
George F. Baughman ’39
New College of Florida (Sarasota)
-
Stephen C. O’Connell
’40
University of Florida
-
Harold B. Crosby ’48
Florida International University (Miami)
West Florida University (Pensacola)
-
Wm. Reece Smith Jr. ’49
University of South Florida/Interim
(Tampa)
-
Marshall M. Criser ’51
University of Florida
-
Ray F. Ferrero Jr. ’60
Nova Southeastern University
(Fort Lauderdale)
-
Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte
’62
Florida State University (Tallahassee)
- John Delaney '81
University of North Florida (Jacksonville)
Supreme
Court Justices
Current
Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice
Harry Lee Anstead ‘63
is the 15th graduate of the Levin College
of Law to serve in that position, and
the 17th to serve on the Court. |
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BACKGROUND
The rich tradition of UFLaw grads occupying the
Court’s top post was established in the
40’s, when Alto Adams ’21
held the position 1949-51. Other Gator Chief Justices:
Fifties: Harold Sebring ’28,
and B. K.
Roberts ’28.
Sixties:
Roberts, Campbell Thornal
’30,
Stephen C. O’Connell ’40,
and Richard
Ervin ’28.
Seventies:
Roberts, James Adkins
Jr. ’38,
and Ben Overton ’52.
Eighties:
James Alderman ’61, Parker
McDonald ’50, Raymond Ehrlich
’42.
Nineties:
Rosemary Barkett ’70, and
Stephen Grimes ’54.
2000:
Charles T. Wells ’64, and
Anstead ’63.
Other
Gators serving as Justices were David
L. McCain ’55 and Paul
Barnes ’20. At one time in the
late 1980’s, five of the seven justices
were UF law grads.
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Law
School Deans
Ten
graduates of the Levin College of Law
have served as deans of law schools,
including three who led their alma mater.
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BACKGROUND
Law schools at the universities of St.
Thomas, Yeshiva, Florida State, Stetson, Idaho,
Indiana and Toledo have been headed by UFLaw graduates,
as has UF’s own law school. They are: Jacqueline
Allee ’78 (St. Thomas, 1987- 93);
Lester Brickman ’64 (Yeshiva
acting dean 1980-82); Talbot “Sandy”
D’Alemberte ’62 (FSU,1984-89);
Bruce R. Jacob, LL.M. ’95
(Stetson, 1981 94); Frank E. Maloney
’42 (UF, 1958-70); John A.”Jack”
Miller, LL.M. ’87 (Idaho, 1997);
Jon Mills ’72 (UF, 1999-2003);
Sheldon Jay Plager ’58
(Indiana, 1977- 84); J. Allen Smith
’48 (Toledo, 1960- 63); and Grace
W. “Betty” Taylor ’62
(UF acting dean 1981).
Florida
Bar Presidents
Since
its creation in 1950, The Florida Bar
has had 54 presidents – 60 percent
of them graduates of the Levin College
of Law.
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BACKGROUND
The first four presidents of the Florida Bar,
the association of all lawyers licensed by the
Florida Supreme Court, were Gator law grads, as
have been 28 others. They have served in each
of the Bar’s five decades, and in the Sixties
every president (1960-69) was a UF graduate. This
almost happened again in the Eighties, when eight
of 10 were Gators. As of 2003, the Bar’s
active membership is more than 70,000.
Florida
Governors
Four
graduates of the Levin College of Law
have served as governors of Florida.
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BACKGROUND
UF
law grads serving in the state’s highest
elective office were Spessard L. Holland
’16, 1941- 45; Reubin O’D
Askew ’56, 1971-79 ; Lawton
M. Chiles Jr. ’55, 1991-98 ; and
Kenneth H. “Buddy” MacKay
’61, who moved up from Lieutenant Governor
to serve after Chiles’ death-in-office.
Hundreds of other UFLaw grads served as state
senators and representatives, including Speakers
of the House and Presidents of the Senate, and
Bruce Smathers ’70 in 1975-78 was Secretary
of State.
ABA
Presidents
In
the last four decades, more presidents
of the American Bar Association have
come from the Levin College of Law than
any other U.S. law school.
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BACKGROUND
Four UFLaw alumni have served since the Sixties
as ABA presidents: Chesterfield Smith
’48, 1973-1974; W. Reece Smith Jr.
’49, 1980-1981; Talbot “Sandy”
D’Alemberte ’62, 1991-92;
and Martha W. Barnett ’73,
2000- 01. The ABA has more than 400,000 members
and among other functions is the accrediting agency
for U.S. law schools.
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