Law school receives $1.5M to establish Michael H. Schill Endowed Chair in Law
Gift from Shapiro Family Charitable Foundation honors School of Law dean
The UCLA School of Law has received a $1.5 million commitment from the Shapiro Family Charitable Foundation to establish the Michael H. Schill Endowed Chair in Law in honor of the law school's current dean. The chair will be awarded to a legal scholar of the highest academic and professional caliber and will provide support for teaching and research activities.
The gift helped to launch the law school's $100 million endowment campaign, which began in April 2008. The goal of the campaign is to raise private contributions to provide funding for student scholarships, to attract and retain a world-class faculty and to support the law school's clinics, centers and programs.
"Shirley and I are pleased to be able to support UCLA School of Law and understand that endowed chairs are necessary to recruit and retain stellar faculty," said Ralph Shapiro, a UCLA School of Law alumnus. "Dean Schill works tirelessly and highly effectively on behalf of our great school. We are proud to be able to honor him and his accomplishments in this way."
"I am extremely honored by the generosity of Ralph and Shirley Shapiro," Schill said. "Ralph and Shirley are among UCLA Law's most dedicated, generous and enduring supporters. They are UCLA. I am deeply moved that these two wonderful members of our law school family have honored me and our school with this gift. Among their many contributions to the law school and to the university, they have led the way in the creation of new endowed chairs, which are critical in recognizing and recruiting talented faculty. I am privileged to know the Shapiro family, and I am enormously thankful for their devotion to our school."
Ralph and Shirley Shapiro have deep and lasting ties to UCLA. They received undergraduate degrees from UCLA in 1953 and 1959, respectively, and Ralph received his J.D. from the law school in 1958. A longtime member of the UCLA Foundation board of directors, Ralph Shapiro has served as president of the School of Law Alumni Association and as a member of the law school's board of advisors. In recognition of his work to keep the UCLA School of Law a prominent institution of higher learning, he received the 2008 Alumni of the Year Award for Public and Community Service and was named the 1983 Alumnus of the Year. Shirley Shapiro serves on the boards of the UCLA Law Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment, the Fowler Museum at UCLA and UCLA's School of the Arts and Architecture.
In addition to their generous gifts, the Shapiros have given their unwavering support and attention to UCLA and have been active participants in the law school and university communities. Their philanthropic efforts extend beyond UCLA to many organizations throughout Los Angeles and across the country that support the arts, environmental issues, children's health and human rights.
The UCLA School of Law, founded in 1949, is the youngest major law school in the nation and has established a tradition of innovation in its approach to teaching, research and scholarship. With approximately 100 faculty and 970 students, the school pioneered clinical teaching, is a leader in interdisciplinary research and training, and is at the forefront of efforts to link research to its effects on society and the legal profession.
The UCLA School of Law, founded in 1949, is the youngest major law school in the nation and has established a tradition of innovation in its approach to teaching, research and scholarship. With approximately 100 faculty and 970 students, the school pioneered clinical teaching, is a leader in interdisciplinary research and training, and is at the forefront of efforts to link research to its effects on society and the legal profession.