As a venture capitalist, Tom Washing, ’66, is a savvy investor. And when he learned details of the Law School’s new Veterans Legal Clinic, Washing saw a winner.
The best indication of the impact of one’s gifts is to meet those who directly benefit. At the Southeast Michigan Scholarship Dinner on April 21, 2015, beneficiaries and benefactors had the chance to get to know each other, share stories about their Michigan Law experiences, and talk about why they give and what those gifts mean.
Twenty years ago, the Law School faced two problems: declining state funding and a declining percentage of recent graduates who were becoming donors to the Law School. So John Nannes, ’73, came up with an idea: He would donate $250 to any Law School organization or activity that a 3L student chose, if the student agreed to make a gift to the Law School in each of the first three years after graduation.
May Liang, ’89, sees the value of her Michigan Law degree in black and white. “Now that I’m established in my career, I really appreciate my time at Michigan,” she says. “It was an impressive education that provided incredible opportunities, and I’m proud to give back.”
“The Adelman Scholarship meant the chance to attend Michigan Law. Period. Had I not had the scholarship, there’s no way I would have thought that Michigan was a practical choice for me.”
As a 2L, newlywed Stef Tucker, ’63, and his wife, Marilyn Tucker, ABEd ’62, returned most of their wedding gifts for cash in order to make ends meet. Through the Stefan & Marilyn Tucker Scholarship Fund, the Tuckers are now the gift givers.
John Nickoll, ’60, and his wife, Patty, of Los Angeles, have made a $1 million gift to the Law School to endow a Darrow Scholarship—which is given to a very select group of Michigan Law’s most accomplished admitted students and can cover as much as full tuition plus a stipend.
The blowtorch beautician. Libel by insinuendo. Justice hidden in the Motor City. With cases in their repertoire that read like mystery thrillers, suffice it to say that Leonard M. Niehoff, ’84, and James E. Stewart, ’73, have not lacked intrigue in their 30-year media law partnership.
Fifteen years ago, Robert Nederlander Jr., ’89, began exploring opportunities to take Broadway shows to China—something that had never been done at that time. Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, of which he is president and CEO, would go on to fulfill that promise by becoming the first foreign entity allowed to form a joint venture and operate in the Chinese performing arts industry.
Whether it’s allegations of the Toronto Mayor’s crack habit or the publication of a Hulk Hogan sex tape, the legal issues that come to Heather Dietrick, JD/MBA ’07, at Gawker Media might tempt less ardent supporters of the First Amendment to toss their copies of the Constitution.
