Wendy Nelder

Former President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Spring 1946 Graduate

        Wendy is one of San Francisco's most forceful public servants. Her father. Al Nelder, was Chief of the San Francisco Police Department from 1969 through 1972. After Wendy graduated from Lincoln in 1958, she attended the University of California at Berkeley and Hastings College of the Law receiving her Juris Doctor in 1964. She entered private practice in San Francisco in 1965. In 1968, she moved to Chicago where she became house counsel for the Shriner's Hospitals. In 1969, she moved to Washington, D.C. where she returned to private practice. She remained in private practice upon her return to San Francisco in 1971. In the late 1970's, Wendy joined George Agnost's staff as City attorney.

        In 1979, Wendy founded a group to acquire a fingerprint computer for the Police Department. In 1980, she ran for the first time for the Board of Supervisors, and when she was elected, she sponsored a ballot measure to require the Police Department to purchase the computer which has since identified thousands of violent criminals. In the 1982 city elections, Wendy ran again receiving the most votes thus becoming President of the Board of Supervisors. After three terms, Wendy left the Board in1991, returning to private law practice.

        Her legislative achievements include an impressive list of ordinances that were the first of their kind in the country and rapidly copied. In 1981, she authored the San Francisco Workplace No Smoking Ordinance, the first such ordinance in the country and the cornerstone of the no-smoking movement. In 1985, she wrote the San Francisco Drug Free Workplace law for which she was honored by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. She sponsored many laws to protect renters and to slow down the conversions of department buildings into condominiums. In 1987, she was the first legislator in the country to propose mandated state-of-the-art public toilets in the interest of health and human dignity. Following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Wendy sponsored many laws to help earthquake victims.

        She has received numerous awards, including being awarded the American Lung Association's 1984 President's Award and being named the San Francisco Labor Council's Man of the Year for 1988 - the only women so honored.

        In recognition of her many accomplishments, Wendy was inducted into the Abraham Lincoln High School Wall of Fame in May 1992.