2021 Inductees

To permanently honor outstanding and notable alumni of the University of Florida Levin College of Law and their contributions to the state and University, the Law Center Association Board of Trustees established the Heritage of Leadership Recognition Society. The Selection Committee determined the initial classes of inductees, barring exceptional circumstances, would be honored posthumously.

Class of 2021

The Hon. Peter T. Fay (1929-2021)

Class of 1956. After serving as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, Peter Fay enrolled in law school where he served as Editor-in-Chief of Florida Law Review and graduated first in his class. He began his legal career as a trial lawyer in Miami and was soon regarded as one of the best in Florida.

In 1970, President Nixon appointed him to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge followed by a seat on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals six years later. He was often believed to be a potential candidate for the United States Supreme Court. In 2008, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Historical Society designated Fay a “Legal Legend.”

He received numerous recognitions, including the Peter T. Fay American Inn of Court, the Chief Justice Earl Warren Lifetime Achievement Award, The Florida Bar Foundation’s Medal of Honor, and Outstanding Federal Appellate Judge by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He established the Peter T. Fay Jurist-in-Residence Program at UF Law.

Fredric G. Levin (1937-2021)

Class of 1961. Fredric G. Levin was a pioneer in establishing American personal injury law and became one of the most successful trial attorneys in the nation, winning more than 25 verdicts in excess of $1 million. The National Law Journal named Levin the top civil litigator in Florida and one of the top ten litigators in the nation in 1999.

In 2009, he was inducted into the Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame by the American Trial Lawyers Association. The pinnacle of his legal career was a $13 billion settlement with the tobacco industry that continues to save more than 100,000 lives every year.

In 1999, the law school’s name was officially changed to the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law after he made what was, at the time, the second largest cash donation ever given to a public law school. Levin’s unparalleled generosity to UF has created numerous student scholarships, supported faculty recruitment, and expanded and improved the law school’s buildings and grounds.

The Hon. Stephan P. Mickle (1944-2021)

Class of 1970. Stephan P. Mickle became the first African American awarded a UF undergraduate degree in 1965 and the second to earn a UF Law degree in 1970. In 1973, he established a law practice in Gainesville, becoming the first African American to do so in the history of Alachua County.

In 1979, he became Alachua County’s first African American County Court Judge. In 1984, he was appointed Circuit Court Judge in the Eighth Judicial Circuit and nine years later to the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee. In 1998, Mickle was nominated by President Clinton to become the first African American U.S. District Court Judge in the Northern District of Florida, later serving as Chief Judge.

He received the Conference of County Court Judges’ Distinguished Leadership Award and was the first African American to receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award from UF. He was a founding member of the UF Association of Black Alumni and served as its first president.