Tulane Law to celebrate life of John Weinmann
Tulane Law School will celebrate the life and legacy of the late John Weinmann Tuesday, Sept. 5, at the building that bears his name, John Giffen Weinmann Hall, 6329 Freret St.
Weinmann, who served as ambassador to Finland under President George H.W. Bush, died June 9, 2016, at age 87. Tulane Law School Dean David Meyer said the event will bring together family, friends and and members of the Tulane community to honor the many contributions that Weinmann made to the law school.
The ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Weinmann Hall, Room 110, with a reception to follow in the Marian Mayer-Berkett Multi-Purpose Room. The community is invited to attend.
"Without John Weinmann, Tulane Law School would not be known around the world today as a leading force in international and comparative law.”
Tulane Law School Dean David Meyer
“This is an important event for the law school,” Meyer said. “Ambassador Weinmann was one of our most important and supportive alumni. He was a man of extraordinary accomplishment and vision whose legacy will shape Tulane Law School for generations to come.”
Among those planning to speak are Tulane President Mike Fitts; Jimmy Roussel, a Tulane law graduate who worked with Weinmann at Phelps Dunbar law firm; and professor Guiguo Wang, the Eason-Weinmann Chair in International and Comparative Law and co-director of the Eason Weinmann Center for International and Comparative Law. Weinmann’s wife, Virginia Eason Weinmann, and the entire Weinmann family will be in attendance.
Weinmann, who earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from Tulane in the early 1950s, was a lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, community leader and diplomat. In addition to serving as ambassador to Finland from 1989 to 1991, he was the White House chief of protocol from 1991 to 1993.
At Tulane, he helped create the Eason Weinmann Center for International and Comparative Law, a leading academic hub for American and foreign scholars. He also served on the Dean’s Advisory Board and as chair of Tulane’s Board of Administrators.
In 2002, Weinmann received Tulane’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, the university’s highest alumni honor. Eleven years later, he was inducted as an inaugural member of the Tulane Law School Hall of Fame.
