Two philanthropic foundations donated $250,000 to the UCLA School of Law to establish scholarships and summer fellowships for environmental law students.
The Emmett Foundation and the Shapiro Family Charitable Foundation will establish the Frank D. Boren Scholarships and Summer Fellowships in Environmental Law to support students who want to solve global environmental problems and study environmental law.
The foundation created the fellowships in honor of Frank D. Boren, an environmentalist and former president of the Nature Conservancy, the world’s largest conservation organization. Boren also worked as the co-founder of Sustainable Conservation, an organization that partners with businesses to implement solutions to environmental problems.
Jennifer Mnookin, dean of the UCLA School of Law, said in an email statement the law school aims to prioritize training students in environmental law to prepare them to be leaders in environmental advocacy.
In 2008 the Emmett family donated funds to establish the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment, which aims to advance policy solutions to climate change and other environmental problems. The center was expanded into the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment in 2014 with an additional $1 million donation.
Ralph and Shirley Shapiro have funded four administrative positions at the UCLA School of Law. Ralph Shapiro served as president of the school’s alumni association and worked as part of the school’s board of directors. Shirley Shapiro serves on the Emmett Institute advisory board.