UCLA School of Law will establish a law school center on climate change and the environment, the first of its kind in the nation, because of a gift from a local philanthropist.
Funding for the center, which was announced on Friday, began with a commitment from real estate businessman Dan Emmett.
The donation will be combined with a matching-gift challenge totalling $10 million for an endowment fund to create the center, which will be named after Emmett.
“That is a very significant amount for the school, and we are so excited to be able to do this. Climate change and the environment and environmental law and policy are very high priorities for us,” said Laura Lavado Parker, associate dean of external affairs at the School of Law.
She added that the Emmett Center’s focus is a popular field of study and may draw more prospective students to apply to the school.
“We’re always looking for ways to differentiate ourselves and to emerge in the top tier of law schools,” she said.
Michael H. Schill, dean of the School of Law, said the Emmett gift will result in a rise in prominence among the nation’s top law schools.
“At a time when the nation is facing unprecedented environmental challenges, and California has become a global center for the development of progressive climate policy, the gift will promote the pursuit of innovative and practical solutions to help us address these issues both domestically and in their worldwide implications,” Schill said in a statement.
The Emmett Center’s faculty director will be Ann Carlson, a law professor, and once the center is functioning an executive director, scholars and fellows will be appointed.
The center will collaborate with the UCLA Environmental Law Center on two projects, according to the statement.
One project is the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic, which will allow students to gain hands-on experience in some of the most important environmental concerns in the area.
The other is the Evan Frankel Environmental Law and Policy Program, which “aims to foster informed analysis of timely and important issues involving governance and regulation in environmental policy,” according to the statement.
Jonathan Zasloff, professor of law and associate director of the Richard S. Ziman Center for Real Estate, said he predicts the Emmett Center will take an interdisciplinary approach, even though it is focused on law.
“I would expect that there’s going to be a good deal of outreach with biological sciences, atmospheric sciences, economics, etc.,” he said. “I would expect a lot of policy-oriented research ““ enhancing the kind of research that could be useful to policy makers.”
He said there are professors currently lecturing on topics relating to climate change, and answering questions about what might be politically feasible. It will be an interactive process, he said.
“I think that there is a lot of opportunity for student work. Students could really be involved,” Zasloff said.
Emmett is chairman of real estate investment company Douglas Emmett Inc., which is based in Santa Monica. He is actively involved in multiple environmentally focused charities and organizations, including serving as chair of the Real Estate Leadership Council of the state’s Green Action Team and former adviser to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Green Building Initiative.
“Dan Emmett is so widely respected. He has been a real leader in the environment. He’s a real naturalist and an adventurer, and an all-around good person,” Lavado Parker said.
With reports from Will Weiss, Bruin staff.