Cornell Law School Bags $25M Anonymous Donation

Cornell Law School Campus. (JDJournal.com)

The Cornell University Law School received $25 million from a former law school graduate wishing to remain anonymous. The donation is the largest in the school’s history and will go toward the general fund, including student scholarships and research, the university announced Friday.

Unlike a $17 million gift from graduate Jane Foster in the 1980s targeted at campus buildings, this new funding can go toward a myriad of uses. Law School Dean Stewart Schwab said the gift comes at an opportune time, possibly offsetting “high tuition and high debt rates.”

Despite the dreary economy, a number of U.S. law schools have received multi-million dollar gifts. In 2011, the University of Maryland School of Law accepted $30 million from the W.P. Carey Foundation and the Indiana University School of Law received $24 million from Robert McKinney.