EDUCATION
UNM Law School receives largest donation in history
$4.5 million gift will fund 10 full-tuition scholarships 'in perpetuity'
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The University of New Mexico School of Law received a $4.5 million donation, the largest in its history, UNM officials announced Friday.
The donation will create up to 10 full-tuition scholarships for UNM law students “in perpetuity,” according to UNM Law School Dean Camille Carey.
UNM law school alum Eric Knapp and his wife, Dana Marie Knapp, pledged the money to the Peter A. Winograd Endowed Annual Scholarship in Law, named for a UNM professor who Knapp said encouraged him to attend law school.
The couple had been making contributions to the Winograd Scholarship since 2014.
Winograd, now a professor emeritus, said in a statement the news of the Knapps’ sizable donation had left him “speechless.”
“Having my name associated with this is both an honor and a career capstone that I could not have imagined when Dean Fred Hart enticed me to New Mexico almost 50 years ago,” Winograd said. “I will forever be grateful to Dana Marie and Eric for making this possible.”
After graduating from UNM in 1998, Knapp practiced law in Albuquerque at Freedman, Boyd, Daniels, Hollander, Goldberg & Cline, P.A. Knapp most recently served as a partner at international law firm Winston & Strawn in San Francisco before his retirement.
“The more opportunities that gifts and scholarships can provide, the better,” Knapp said in a statement. “They can attract more students, increasing the pool of candidates, and help students who may not have the resources to pay for a full-time legal education.”
Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.
