University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law

The urban public law school with a small liberal arts feel

The UMKC Law Foundation In 1959, alumni and friends of the UMKC School of Law established the Law Foundation to sustain, through provision of auxiliary financial resources, the unique aspects of education so essential to a superior, legal institution. Outstanding alumni and leading citizens of Missouri have traditionally been participatory in this organization, including President Harry S. Truman, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Charles E. Whittaker, H. Roe Bartle and other judges, lawyers, officers of government, friends and supporters of the school. The stated purposes of the Law Foundation are as follows: to promote and advance legal education; to aid the Law School in the acquisition of library and research materials; to provide scholarships for law students; to obtain lectureships and chairs for law faculty; and to promote the advancement of continuing legal education. As a fiscally autonomous organization, operating with its own Board of Trustees, the Law Foundation strives to meet the long-and short-term financial needs of the school. The Law Foundation played a major leadership role in the 1995-1996 Centennial Year of the Law School. A commitment to providing funding for all Centennial activities was received from the Foundation’s Board leadership, and an aggressive fund-raising effort, the Second Century Campaign, was instigated. As a result, both new and renewing contributors to the Foundation gave more than $130,000 to honor the Centennial and the Law School. With justifiable pride, the Law School salutes these efforts. The agenda for the Law School was ambitious; the challenges impressively met. As we begin the second century of the Law School’s history, we commence the "Decade of Vision" as described in other sections of this report. The initiatives dictated by these new goals, including in particular our focus on faculty scholarship and increasing contacts with nationally-recognized legal scholars, will impact our educational mission and enhance our relationship with the practicing bar and judiciary in dramatically positive ways. We are pleased to have the Law Foundation’s commitment to this vision, and the stated belief that we are on the right track. Currently, the Foundation's endowment tops the 5 million dollar mark and offers nearly $500,000 of support each year to the School of Law. Nearly $300,000 goes directly to student scholarships for worthy and meritorious students. Some other efforts that are supported by the Law Foundation include the following: Building Improvement Technology Support Student Commencement Student Competitions Student Conferences Student Receptions Mentor Program Student Recruitment Student Awards Student Minority Affairs Student Activities Support Faculty/Staff Enhancements Faculty/Staff Recruitment Faculty/Staff Summer Research Grants Alumni/Friends Public Relations Alumni/Friends Awards/Annual Meeting Alumni/Friends Black Tie Lecture Series Law Report Law Talk Brochures Our strength as a Law School reflects the advantages of location, history and the on-going financial commitment of alumni leaders and community partners in the Law Foundation to our goals and mission. We are strategically positioned to play a critical role in shaping the way law is taught in the coming century - and in shaping how lawyers practice in our society. Through the efforts of the Law Foundation our ability to respond to internal academic needs and professional opportunities as they arise will be enhanced; our position at the center of legal education and the forefront of the legal profession will be sustained To contact the Law Foundation, e-mail Diane Pike