Errol E. Meidinger Appointed Director of Baldy Center

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Errol E. Meidinger, professor and vice dean for research and faculty development at the University at Buffalo Law School, has been named director of the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy.

His appointment was announced today by UB Provost Satish K. Tripathi, who praised Meidinger for his scholarship and record of service.

The Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy is a nationally recognized focal point for interdisciplinary research and teaching at the UB Law School and UB.

"I am pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Errol Meidinger as director of the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, effective immediately," Tripathi said. "Professor Meidinger is a nationally and internationally renowned scholar and widely respected expert in environmental and natural resources law. He writes and teaches in the fields of administrative law, environmental law, indigenous peoples' law, international trade and the environment, legal theory, property, and the sociology of law.

"A renowned academic who crosses disciplines and possesses substantial administrative skills and experience, he will lead the Baldy Center into a new era of innovation and academic excellence."

As director of the center, Meidinger will lead the newly created Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy Advisory Council in making recommendations on the center's future, and its vision, mission and guidelines.

The Baldy Council is composed of Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen, professor of geography; Guyora Binder, UB Distinguished Professor of Law; Robert Granfield, professor and chair of sociology; Stephanie Phillips, professor of law; Kenneth Shockley, associate professor of philosophy; Mateo Taussig-Rubbo, associate professor of law; and James Wooten, professor of law, director of the Law Library and vice dean for legal information services.

Formed as an oversight body, the council will also offer Meidinger advice on strategic matters, and will report to the provost, the dean of the Law School and the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The director of the Baldy Center will report to the dean of the Law School.

Meidinger holds a PhD and a JD from Northwestern University and a BA from the University of North Dakota. He is the co-editor of two books on environmental law and the author of more than 30 journal articles and book chapters.

Meidinger joined the faculty of UB Law in 1982. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Washington and Syracuse University, as well as a Distinguished Environmental Scholar at Lewis and Clark Law School and a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of Freiburg. He is adjunct professor of sociology at UB, and was the founding director of UB's Environment and Society Institute. He also serves as honorary professor at the University of Freiburg in Germany.

Meidinger has a distinguished record of service at UB and nationally. He has been a member of the U.S. National Standards Committee of the Forest Stewardship Council, and was interim director of the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy and chair of the UB Environmental Institute Task Force.

He is a member of the Law and Society Association and was co-organizer of its International Working Group on Environmental Institutions. Meidinger also was co-editor of the journal Law & Policy. In addition, he has consulted widely on environmental matters for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The Administrative Conference of the United States and the U.S. Forest Service, among others.