Dean Martha Minow with Sumner Redstone ’47. In April, Redstone donated $1 million to be used by Harvard College and Harvard Law School to establish fellowships to support public service.
In May, Harvard Law School selected 26 graduating 3Ls and one recent graduate to receive fellowships enabling them to pursue public service work.
Ten students were awarded the newly established Redstone Fellowships; one student was named the Maria, Gabriella & Robert A. Skirnick Public Interest Fellow; one is now the Sheldon Seevak Fellow; another nine received Holmes Public Service Fellowships; and six received Irving R. Kaufman Fellowships.
The one-year fellowships offer financial support for post-graduates who wish to work for nonprofit organizations or for the government. This support is especially vital when resources are tight and job opportunities are limited, and legal needs are profound, HLS Dean Martha Minow said.
Minow added that the fellowships enable recipients to get valuable work experience, and they also provide much-needed help across fields ranging from global economic development to domestic criminal defense work. The grants cover basic living expenses while the graduates provide legal services in the nonprofit sector.
Minow said each of the recipients submitted a proposal to do vitally important work in public service.
“Their proposals reflect the hopes of graduating students while simultaneously addressing unmet legal needs,” she added. “They will pursue a breathtaking variety of projects at an especially critical moment of challenge for nonprofit and governmental organizations. I am immensely grateful to Sumner Redstone; Maria, Gabriella and Robert A. Skirnick; Sheldon Seevak; and Walter Annenberg, donors with the vision to provide support that advances the dreams of students to serve their communities while simultaneously providing legal assistance. This financial support will make a life-changing difference not only for the recipients of these fellowships, but for the countless people who will be helped by what these fellows will now be able to accomplish.”
Fellowship Roundup
- The Irving R. Kaufman Fellowships were created in recognition of Judge Kaufman’s distinguished career in public service and are made possible by a gift from the late Honorable Walter Annenberg, philanthropist and former ambassador to the Court of St. James.
- The Redstone Fellowships were established in April 2010 by Sumner M. Redstone ’47, who donated $1 million to be used by both Harvard College and Harvard Law School to support students committed to public service work.
- The Sheldon Seevak Fellowship was created in 2007 by a gift from the late Sheldon Seevak ’53 to promote student engagement in advancing American democracy through election reform and voting rights work.
- The Skirnick Fellowships were established by Maria Ann Skirnick ’69 and Robert A. Skirnick, along with their daughter Gabriella Skirnick ’07, to promote public service.
See a complete list of this year’s fellowship winners.