Michael Deland: This Land Was His Land

Michael Deland ’69, who was as fierce for his causes as he was generous in his leadership, passed away January 8 at the age of seventy-seven. His accomplishments were legion: He led the New England branch of the Environmental Protection Agency, served as environmental advisor to President H.W. Bush, and fought to clean up Boston Harbor. “Mike Deland’s life stands as a proud example of BC Law’s environmental service to the nation,” said environmental law professor Zygmunt Plater. Confined to a wheelchair later in life, Deland also fought to have an image of Franklin Delano Roosevelt depicted in his wheelchair at the FDR Washington memorial so people would know that the president “raised the country up—gave America hope—from a wheelchair.”