As part of UCLA’s ambitious five-year fundraising program,
the UCLA School of Law announced Wednesday the creation of a new
endowed chair for professors of clinical law.
The David A. Binder Chair in Clinical Law, which was established
on a $1 million gift from an anonymous alumnus, is the
school’s 11th overall endowed chair and the second created in
the last two months.
The chair was established as part of the university’s
Ensuring Academic Excellence initiative ““ a five-year program
aimed at generating $250 million in donations for recruitment and
retention of faculty and graduate students.
The campus-wide initiative was started in 2004 and is aiming to
raise $100 million specifically for the endowment of chairs. With
11 endowed chairs, UCLA ranks low among comparable law schools,
while Harvard Law School, with 61 chairs, has the most.
Laura Parker, assistant dean of development and external affairs
for the law school, said the UCLA’s Dean Michael Schill has
placed fundraising and endowing chairs among his top
priorities.
“In just the short time this dean has been here we have
two new endowed chairs and one that is in the negotiation
stage,” Parker said. “We are hoping this is a harbinger
of good things to come.”
But Parker said it is unusual for an alumnus to give such a
large gift.
“This is an especially generous gift from an alumnus. We
have had only a handful of gifts this size from alumni,” she
said.
The last chair, named the Paul Hastings Endowed Chair in
Corporate and Securities Law, was announced last December and was
made possible by a $1 million donation from the law firm Paul,
Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP.
At the request of the donor, the Binder chair was named for
professor David Binder, a member of the law school faculty since
1970.
The 71-year-old professor said having a chair named for him
ranks “way up there” with the previous awards and
honors bestowed upon him, which include UCLA’s Distinguished
Teaching Award and the Professor of the Year Award, which is voted
by students.
“(I am) pleased and surprised at the same time,”
Binder said. “You don’t think things like that are
going to happen.”
Though Binder may have been surprised, many members of the law
school’s faculty rank Binder among the most respected
professors.
“The generosity of this donation is truly a testament of
our students’ appreciation for one of the most beloved
teachers at UCLA School of Law,” Schill said in a
statement.
“David Binder is one of a small group of legal academics
who shaped the field of clinical legal education. He put our
clinical program at the forefront of legal education, and this
newly established chair will ensure that we continue to stay
there,” Schill said.
The recipient of the chair will be named once University of
California President Robert Dynes gives his approval of the
chair’s endowment.
Binder was recently named the 2006 winner of the William Pincus
Award, which is given in recognition of contributions to the field
of clinical education.