Isaac Lidsky (born July 30, 1979) is an American corporate speaker, author, actor and entrepreneur. Before losing his sight, he played Weasel on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class''. He is the first blind person to serve as a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

. He is CEO of ODC Construction, a residential shell contractor in Florida.

Early life and education

Lidsky was born in and grew up in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. His parents were Jewish emigrants from Cuba. A child actor, he was in a diaper commercial when he was six months old, and he went on to perform in more than 100 commercials. In 1993, when he was 13, he was cast as Weasel on

's '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class''. Also in 1993, he was diagnosed with

retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a member of a group of genetic disorders called inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) that cause loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visua ...

, a retinal degenerative disease that leads to progressive sight loss and

blindness Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

. Lidsky left Los Angeles in 1994 to attend college. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1999 with an honors degree in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

. In 2001 he returned to Harvard to study law. Lidsky graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 2004. While there, he served as an editor of the ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of ...

'' and a Fellow of the

Berkman Center for Internet & Society The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, ...

Career

In June 1999, Lidsky founded an internet advertising technology startup with Joe Zawadzki. Originally named "ru4.com," the company eventually became +1and was acquired in 2015 for $230 million. Lidsky left the company after two years to attend Harvard Law School. After law school, Lidsky clerked for Judge Thomas L. Ambro on the United States Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit. He then joined the appellate staff of the Civil Division of the

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. In two and a half years in that position, Lidsky argued more than twelve cases on behalf of the U.S. government in federal courts of appeal. In 2008, Lidsky served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justices

Sandra Day O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor (March 26, 1930 – December 1, 2023) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, O' ...

and

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...

. He is the first blind person to clerk for the court. After a brief stint practicing law for a large international law firm, in 2011 Lidsky partnered with Harvard College roommate Zac Merriman to acquire a small business. They purchased the assets of Orlando Decorative Concrete, Inc. and created ODC Construction, LLC. ODC Construction is a residential shell contractor. It builds the structural envelope of new homes, including the foundations, masonry, framing and trusses. In 2014, the company had $70 million in revenue. In 2014, Lidsky began speaking publicly about his experiences to corporations and organizations. In 2015, he sold his first book, ''Eyes Wide Open: Overcoming Obstacles and Recognizing Opportunities In A World That Can't See Clearly'', to

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

. The book was listed on the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' 10 books on leadership to read in 2017. The book was published on March 14, 2017. In 2016, TED invited Lidsky to present a main stage TED Talk at TEDSUMMIT 2016 in Banff, Canada. The talk received a standing ovation. Lidsky is a member of the Young President's Organization (YPO), the Chapter Chair for the Orlando Chapter and a member of the Regional Executive Committee for the Southeast U.S. and Caribbean Region. He is also a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council.

Personal life

Lidsky is on the advisory board of and is the chairman and president of the Hope for Vision.Ex-actor to make pitch for eye research
(Jorge Valencia, ''Miami Herald'', September 27, 2007) Lidsky met his wife Dorothy in 2002 when she was a senior at Harvard College studying art history and he was a first year law student. They married on June 13, 2004. On September 14, 2010, Dorothy gave birth to the couple's triplets, Lily Louise, Phineas, and Thaddeus. On December 5, 2015, their fourth child was born, daughter Clementine. The family lives in

Windermere, Florida Windermere is a town in Orange County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,030. It is part of the Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area. History A post office opened in Windermere in 1888. The post office ...

Other achievements

Tapped to lead the Orlando Chapter and to serve on the regional executive committee for the Southeast U.S. and Caribbean. Appointed to state leadership positions by the governor of Florida and to a federal position by a U.S. Senator. Sits on the board of the Florida Hospital For Children. Named 1 of 4 Temple Bar Scholars by the United Kingdom's Inns of Court and brought to London for a month-long idea exchange with UK Supreme Court justices and leading barristers. Featured in numerous national media, including Forbes, MSNBC, ''U.S. News & World Report'', ''60 Minutes'', CNN, Voice of America, ''Business News Daily'', ''Daily Business Review'', ''Business Insider'', ''Men's Health'', ''People'' magazine, the ''National Law Journal'', and the ''American Bar Association Journal''.

References

External links