Vornado Realty Trust president David Greenbaum
The University of Chicago Law School will host a succession of Israeli legal scholars, financed through a $1 million donation.
The gift, from alumnus David Greenbaum and his wife Laureine, will create an endowed visiting professorship that will enable law professors from Israel to come for at least one academic quarter per year. The visiting professor will teach law and undergraduate students.
"It is David and Laureine's commitment to the state of Israel that makes this generous gift a perfect match with the ideals they share with the law school," dean Michael Schill said in a written statement. "Israel has a long history of serious legal scholarship, particularly, but not exclusively, in the area of law and economics, and we have had extraordinary experiences bringing Israeli scholars into our community both to teach and to interact with our faculty."
Greenbaum graduated from the law school in 1976. He practiced at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and ran The Mendick Co., which turned into Vornado Realty Trust, of which he is president. Vornado owns and manages commercial real estate. Both Greenbaums serve on the national and Greater New York boards of the Jewish National Fund.
"I feel privileged to visit the University of Chicago every year, teach exceptional students, and interact and collaborate with the best law professors in the world," former University of Tel Aviv Law School dean Ariel Porat said. "At the same time, the law school will benefit from the interaction with Israeli scholars, who are often interdisciplinarily oriented, and have backgrounds rooted in European, American, and original Israeli law."
Contact Karen Sloan at ksloan@alm.com.
