Guest Blogger: Laurie R. on the New Lowell Milken UCLA Law School

LA residents appreciate that our UCLA Law School, one of the nation's top law schools, continues to function as a leader in enhancing the ethics and values of law. This connection was recently augmented by a $10 million gift from Lowell Milken, an advocate of educational reform and a 1973 alumnus of the school.

Milken's gift created the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy which will develop innovative approaches to law and business. It is anticipated that the Institute will develop new strategies to improve law students' transactional and problem solving skills through hands-on training through its research into successful law and business models.

Milken sees this gift as one which will attract and retain top Law School faculty as it supports centers and institutes which inform law and public policy. An additional component of the gift provides the UCLA Law School with the capability to offer increased financial aid to students who demonstrate leadership potential in the fields of business law and policy. The Law School anticipates that the enhanced training in real-world transactional skills and the expanded curriculum will be of use to the broader legal and business communities in addition to the UCLS Law School students.

The UCLA Law School's reputation as a leader in business law along with its long tradition of interdisciplinary collaborations convinced Milken to open his Institute at UCLA. UCLA Chancellor Gene Block noted that "Through groundbreaking research, as well as symposia and conferences, the Lowell Milken Institute will facilitate the kind of sustained dialogue with policymakers and practitioners that is UCLA's hallmark as a public university."

The UCLA Law School sees this kind of private philanthropy as vital to allowing the school to attain its vision and values and serve the LA community.

(Photo here)