Summary: The largest single donation of $100 million from the Pritzker’s to Northwestern Law School will continue the school’s efforts to stand out above other law schools as a leader.
In honor of the $100 million gift from J.B. and M.L. Pritzker, Northwestern University School of Law will change their name to Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. The gift from alumnus Pritzker is the largest single gift a law school has ever received. The donation will greatly help the school continue their mission and vision of being one of the nation’s leading law schools.
The money will go towards scholarships and grants as well as support their social justice, civil and human rights, and entrepreneurship initiatives. The law school has several social justice centers that the gift will continue to support, including the Children and Family Justice Center, the Center for Wrongful Convictions, the Environmental Law Center, the Center on International Human Rights, and more.
The school’s Entrepreneurial Law Center will also be renamed to honor Pritzker’s father to be the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurial Law Center. Donald Pritzker was the co-founder and chief executive of Hyatt Hotels.
Law School Dean Daniel B. Rodriguez said of the donation, “This extraordinary gift will help provide the financial foundation for this law school to produce a new breed of highly skilled, adaptive lawyers – creative, constructive problem-solvers armed with multidisciplinary skills and resolutely committed to social justice and the rule of the law.”
The Pritzker family has three generations of hard-working Americans, with Nicholas first taking himself out of poverty in 1881. He arrived in Chicago and was admitted to the Illinois College of Law by 1900. He put himself through school and went on to build a successful law practice. His son, Donald Pritzker helped start the Hyatt Hotels Corporation. And then there is J.B. He received his J.D. from Northwestern in 1993 and has continued to give back since.
He is the co-founder and managing partner of the Pritzker Group. He is a life member of the Northwestern Law Board and joined the Board of Trustees eleven years ago. He is seen as a leader in the Chicago entrepreneurship community, driving the growth and strength of the innovation, technology and entrepreneurship sectors.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-northwestern-law-school-gift-met-1022-20151022-story.html
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