UCLA School of Law gets $10 million donation from alumnus Lowell Milken
By Shoshee Jau
Aug. 9, 2011 8:48 p.m.
The UCLA School of Law received a $10 million gift Tuesday, the largest in its history.
The donation from businessman and education reform advocate Lowell Milken, the school’s Public Service Alumnus of the Year in 2009, will provide funds for a new business law institute, additional student scholarships and faculty retention.
The donation has enabled the law school to fulfill and even exceed fundraising goals under its $100 million Campaign for UCLA School of Law, according to a statement from the school.
“This critical campaign and the transformative gift from Lowell Milken show that our students, alumni and friends share the vision and values that define us as a great public law school, and their ongoing support will help us to overcome the often dour predictions prompted by the state and national budget crisis,” said Rachel Moran, dean of the UCLA School of Law.
Milken’s gift will establish the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy, which will train students, conduct research and serve the local community through its various programs, Moran said. Development of the institute has been in the works for three years under the law school’s collaboration with Milken.
The School of Law’s $100 million campaign, established in April 2008, has funded programs and institutes including the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment and the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy.
Parts of the $10 million gift will also go into student scholarships, research efforts and curriculum development.
Laura Lavado Parker, executive director of development for professional schools, said the donation is an example of the impact philanthropic efforts can make by investing in education. She added that the Campaign for UCLA School of Law plans to continue outreach efforts to encourage private donations like Lowell’s in the future.
“In the world of highly competitive tier-one universities, if you stand still, you fall behind,” Parker said. “We plan to put an even stronger emphasis on private funding for scholarship support and student aid to ensure that all students of superior merit, regardless of family background or economic circumstances, are afforded the opportunity of a world-class legal education here at UCLA.”
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