Penn Law School recently received three major donations — totaling $12.1 million.
The first gift, which amounts to $8.6 million, is a bequest from the estate of Elizabeth Hamilton, daughter of 1898 Penn Law graduate, former editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian, former Penn Law dean and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts. Roberts, who served as dean of Penn Law in from 1948 to 1951 after retiring from the Supreme Court, took steps to provide students with greater scholarship funding, and the funds donated in his name will be used to enhance Penn Law's financial aid program.
The second donation, which comes to $2.5 million, is from Robert and Jane Toll, 1966 graduates of Penn Law and the Graduate School of Education, respectively. The funds will support public interest programming at Penn Law through the Toll Public Interest Center, which was renamed in 2006 after a $10 million donation from the Tolls. Robert Toll serves as the executive chairman of the Board of Toll Brothers, Inc., a builder of luxury homes.
The third gift, $1 million, was given by 1963 Penn Law graduate Michael Rotko in memory of his late wife, Denise Rotko, who earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the School of Nursing, as well as serving on the faculty there. The donation will endow the Denise A. Rotko Associate Deanship of Legal Writing and Communication, a position that will be held by Eleanor Barrett, the head of Penn Law's Legal Practice Skills program.
“These gifts provide crucial support for students and programs across the Law School,” Penn Law Dean Theodore Ruger said in a press release. “This funding will help us continue to attract the best students, while supporting them financially, academically and professionally.”
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