A Tulane University law professor has been identified as one of two swimmers who died during the weekend in rough surf kicked up by Hurricane Rita along Florida Panhandle beaches, the Palm Beach Post reports.

Martin David Gelfand, 54, a member of the Tulane faculty in New Orleans for 30 years, drowned Sunday while swimming at Pensacola Beach. He held the Phelps Chair in Constitutional Law at Tulane and was an expert in First Amendment rights. He had evacuated to Florida because of Hurricane Katrina.

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Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.