Faculty members are the “engines of excellence” who drive the achievements of the University of Houston Law Center. Our renowned professors hold worldwide reputations for their legal scholarship, teaching abilities, and abiding commitment to advance the understanding of law. Policymakers at the state and federal levels frequently turn to our expert faculty to help frame critical issues such as sentencing guidelines, the privacy of medical records, and the governance of higher education.
Many of our faculty members are affiliated with eight centers of excellence at the Law Center that focus on distinct areas of the law. Our institutes, centers and special programs are known for: Providing legal education of the highest quality to help prepare law students and lawyers for the challenges of practicing law in a nationally and internationally integrated economy; Advancing the development of substantive areas of law by collaborating with academicians from across the region, nation and world to share ideas, develop research priorities, and produce scholarship; Providing a forum for education and discussion of the most important legal issues affecting a specific legal discipline and to improve the policies and practices within that discipline; and Contributing to cooperation among the international cohort of scholars and practitioners working to advance the understanding of specific areas of the law. Two of our programs – health law and intellectual property – are recognized among the 10 best programs in the nation, according to US News & World Report.
The market for top law professors
is extremely competitive – and the
Law Center is committed to
retaining its existing faculty
members and recruiting superior
candidates to fill positions as they
arise. Adequate funding is the
primary key to success in these
initiatives, and gifts from alumni
and other supporters represent
invaluable resources that play a
vital role in defining the future
of the Law Center.
FACULTY EXCELLENCE GIVING OPPORTUNITIES The Law Center campus operates eight centers of excellence that collectively set the highest standards for the research, teaching and understanding of key areas of the law. The Blakely Advocacy Institute is named in honor of Newell Blakely, a revered professor who molded generations of Law Center students into highly successful lawyers. Our Blakely Advocacy Institute and seven other centers of excellence are recognized throughout the world, and naming opportunities that start at $1 million are just one way that alumni can support our special programs.
Our centers of excellence include:
Blakely Advocacy Institute
Center for Children, Law & Policy
Center for Consumer Law
The Environment, Energy & Natural Resource Center
Criminal Justice Institute
Health Law & Policy Institute
Institute for Higher Education Law & Governance
Institute for Intellectual Property & Information Law
NAMED ENDOWED CHAIRS and the academic legacies they create are essential to the Law Center’s ability to maintain a faculty of the highest caliber. These endowed chairs represent an investment in perpetuity – and the annual stipends they generate allow our nationally recognized scholars to fully realize their research ambitions. These chairs distinguish true leaders in legal education, and they build a high profile not only for the professors who hold them, but also for the donors who create them. Naming an endowed chair typically involves a commitment of $1 million.
NAMED PROFESSORSHIPS are another title of distinction that recognizes academic excellence. These professorships are recognized with a distinguishing title. Dean Nimmer, for example, is the Leonard Childs Professor of Law. Naming a professorship typically involves a commitment of $500,000.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT DIRECTORSHIPS distinguish leaders of our centers of excellence, and they are important tools that help elevate the profiles of our special programs. Creating an academic appointment directorship typically involves a commitment of $100,000.
NAMED PROGRAMS allow the Law Center to host or create special programs that appeal to a donor’s specific areas of interests. Examples of these programs include lectureships, speakers series, special editions of research journals, or a regional or national competition for law students. Creating a named program typically involves a commitment of $100,000.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FUNDS allow faculty members to pursue important research on legal topics or issues that match the specific interests of donors. Creating these types of funds typically involve a commitment of $50,000.
TARGETED GIFTS allow donors to direct their funds to support a specific area of interest at the Law Center, including clinics, special programs or centers of excellence. Examples of these types of gifts include sponsorship of a student writing competition or the underwriting of a student fellow in a clinic. Targeted gifts typically range from $2,500 to $10,000.
For more information on how you can invest FACULTY EXCELLENCE at the University of Houston Law Center, please contact:
University of Houston Law Center Office of Law Alumni Relations
4170 Martin Luther King Blvd
Houston, TX 77204-6060
713.743.2107 ph
713.743.2211 fax
lawalumni@uh.edu
