Talbot ("Sandy") D'Alemberte

Talbot ("Sandy") D'Alemberte was appointed president of The Florida State University on November 29, 1993, by the Florida Board ofRegents, and took office on January 3, 1994. His grandfather attended the Seminary West of the Suwannee and his mother attended the Florida State College for Women; the two institutions were predecessors to The Florida State University.

D'Alemberte served as the fourth dean of the FSU College of Law from 1984 to 1989 and continues to teach as a member of the University faculty. He was the 1991-1992 president of the American Bar Association and represented Dade County in the Florida House of Representatives from 1966 to 1972 where he chaired several legislative committees. After leaving the Florida Legislature, he chaired the Florida Constitution Revision Commission in 1977-1978 and the Florida Commission on Ethics in 1974-1975.

The numerous awards D'Alemberte has won include the 1996 American Judicature Society’s Justice Award for his efforts to improve the administration of justice in the United States, the 1996 National Council of Jewish Women's Hannah G. Soloman Award, the 1993 Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers "Perry Nichols" Award, the 1993 Florida Academy of Criminal Defense Lawyers Annual Criminal Justice Award, the 1990 Jurisprudence Award from the Anti-Defamation League of South Florida, the 1987 Florida Bar Foundation Medal of Honor, the 1986 National Sigma Delta Chi First Amendment Award, a National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences "Emmy" in 1985 for his work in open government, particularly in the opening of court proceedings to electronic journalists, the 1984 Florida Civil Liberties Union "Nelson Poynter" Award, and, most recently in 1998, the ABA Section of Legal Education Robert J. Kutak and the ABA World Order Under Law Awards.

Born June 1, 1933, in Tallahassee, D'Alemberte was educated in public schools in Tallahassee and Chattahoochee, Florida. In 1955, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in political science from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and also attended summer school at FSU and the University of Virginia. After military service as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve, D'Alemberte studied on a Rotary Foundation fellowship at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 1962, he received his juris doctor with honors from the University of Florida where he was named to the Order of the Coif, served as president of the Student Bar Association, was captain of the moot court team, served as articles editor of the University of Florida Law Review, and received the J. Hillis Miller Award as the outstanding law graduate.

Sandy D'Alemberte was a cofounder of the Central and East European Law Initiative (CEELI). Founded in 1990 as a project of the American Bar Association (ABA) CEELI advances the rule of law by supporting promoting the rule of law and the law reform process in Central and Eastern Europe. Its 4000 attorneys volunteer thier time to work in 24 countriesand have provided assessments of more than 400 draft laws. A new CEELI Institute has been created in Prague to educate judges and attorneys in the region through modern educational methods and facilities.