As we say goodbye and thank you to Nestor Weigand as Trustee, we welcome Nes Weigand to fill his father’s role.
Tacit knowledge—that is, knowledge stemming from intuition, context, and experience—is rarely articulated but deeply known. According to Weigand Trustee Gerry O’Shaughnessy, this is the sort of knowledge that J.L. Weigand, Jr. possessed in creating the J.L. Weigand, Jr. Notre Dame Legal Education Trust.
While J.L. articulated the impact the Trust would have on individual scholars, he tacitly understood it would grow into something greater, like the network of supportive attorneys our program has come to be. And the agents of J.L.’s vision are our Trustees.
As we say goodbye and thank you to Nestor Weigand for being a force of change in each of our lives, we welcome Nestor’s son, Nes Weigand, as Trustee to continue implementing J.L.’s vision.
A world traveler from Wichita
No matter where he traveled or for what business venture, Nestor’s introduction remained the same: “I’m Nestor Weigand from Wichita, Kansas.”
Nestor, a world traveler, was proud to be from our State. Wichita was home to his dear family and thriving real estate business, J.P. Weigand & Sons. Despite Nestor’s exceptional business success, he remained more interested in learning about others than talking about himself.
“Nestor was the definition of a gentleman. He had a great sense of humor, and he had never met anyone he wasn’t interested in. It didn’t matter occupation or station in life, he was genuinely interested in them and what they had to say,” Trustee J.D. Munley said.
Nestor’s respectful curiosity—a quality frequently attributed to J.L. Weigand, Jr. as well—was key in Weigand Scholar interviews. “He got to know people very quickly and how they thought just by the questions he asked, and that’s a true gift,” J.D. said. “They were probing questions, but they didn’t seem like that—he had a knack for making the questions not intimidating. He wanted to know you as a person; it was very genuine.”
Gerry is Nestor’s first cousin, and J.D. is Nestor’s first cousin once removed (J.D.’s mother and J.L. were cousins). Because of the Weigand Trust, each had the opportunity to get to know Nestor in a way they might’ve otherwise missed.
When Gerry returned to Wichita from Minnesota, Nestor was already well-established in the Kansas real estate business. And because Nestor was ten years older than Gerry, the two didn’t deeply connect until later in life through the Trust. “He became my very close friend as well as cousin,” Gerry said.
J.D. is also grateful for how the Trust brought him together with Nestor and Gerry. “It basically gave us time to be together and work together. I appreciated the ability to do that,” he said.
Nestor had three sons, Nes, Johnathan, and Steven, each of whom exudes their father’s characteristics, according to J.D. The oldest son, Nes Weigand, is now proud to serve as Trustee.
“A chip off the ’old block”
Nes Weigand owns and operates his own real estate private equity company called Eastborough Partners, based in London, England. While the name is often mistaken for a local location in London, Eastborough is the neighborhood where Nes grew up outside of Wichita. With his wife, Laura, Nes raises two children, Vivien, 8, and Theo, 5, in London.
His entry into the real estate industry was “100%” inspired by his dad. “I remember being 3, 4, 5, and 6, driving around Wichita, taking pictures of houses and buildings, and walking properties with my dad.”
Nestor brought Nes with him on real estate trips worldwide, bringing their Wichita pride to Japan, Norway, and France, among other places.
“He was always speaking at conferences or running conferences, but his gaze never lost me. Always, every 60 or 90 seconds, he would look back and make sure I was okay.”
Gerry suspects that a humble demeanor is a Weigand characteristic because Nes also shows an inclination to direct attention to things other than himself. “Nes is a chip off the old block. He seems to have absorbed his father’s character and gentleness, intelligence, and insightfulness,” Gerry said.
“I can already tell that Nes will be a phenomenal Trustee,” J.D. said. In this year’s interviews, Nes troubleshot logistical issues from Paris, France, to ensure all interviews stayed on track, as planned.
The three original Weigand Trustees knew J.L. very well, how he thought, and what he would want to do concerning the Trust. The Trustees have intentionally planned for Trustee succession to ensure that future trustees, those who may not have known J.L. personally, are deeply familiar with J.L.’s wishes and knowledge, both express and tacit.
“Nestor spent a lot of time with Nes talking about what the trust was,” J.D. said.
When asked why Nes wanted to step into his father’s previous role as trustee, Nes said it was “a simple answer.”
“That was my dad’s wish and became my own as a result. This was a chance to work with Gerry and J.D. and to carry on Dad’s tradition of helping others on their path. What better way to do that than with the legacy of our family with these inspiring young professionals.”
The Weigand Trust continues to grow
Although left unarticulated, Gerry said J.L. tacitly understood how the Trust would grow. “J.L. expressed the desire for people to come back to Kansas. He did not specifically articulate the desire to build a community within the group of scholars – thanks in no small part to our executive director Claudette Glenn – that has come to characterize the J.L. Weigand Trust. However, J.L. knew the influence [the Trust] would have on the state by keeping or bringing back the best attorneys to Kansas and having them associate here,” Gerry said.
“J.L. would be very happy that the end result has turned out even greater than what he described by the words he chose to launch his vision. The Scholars themselves are breathing life into J.L.’s vision, expanding it, and making it more durable.”
In explaining the idea of tacit knowledge, Gerry points to the Michael Polanyi quote: “We know more than we can tell by knowing more than we can explicitly articulate.”