Our Donors

Wayne O. Veatch '35 Sr., Scholarship

The Center for WorkLife Law receives $30,000 from the NoVo Foundation

At first blush, 1L Chris Martin and Wayne O. Veatch Sr. '35 seem to have little in common. Martin grew up in a low-income, single-parent household in South Central Los Angeles, where, even today, only 41% of African American males graduate from high school. His mother worked as a telephone operator. He was bused to an upper-middle class neighborhood for school, traveling two and a half hours to arrive bleary-eyed each morning, in pants too short for him. Get the full story here.

Mary Kay Kane Gives $169,000 to Support Scholarships

Chancellor & Dean Emeritus Mary Kay Kane has donated $169,000 in honor of John K. “Jack” Smith ‘54, one of the college's most enthusiastic alumni and chair of the school’s Board of Directors while Kane was chancellor and dean. “Jack adored our school and he adored our students,” Kane said. “What I remember was his interest in the students, and his consistent generosity.” Get the full story here.

Ethnea and William M. Auslen ’52

The late Ethnea and William M. Auslen ’52 generously named UC Hastings as a beneficiary of their estate, which recently awarded an initial disbursement of $340,000 to the law school. A portion of the gift will be used to fund a scholarship in the Auslens’ names, and the remainder will be directed toward areas of greatest need. 

“William valued education very much,” recalls his cousin, Gregg. “He believed firmly in giving back to those institutions that helped him advance in his career, and his experience at UC Hastings meant a great deal to him.”

William, who passed away in 2010, had a distinguished career as an educator, prosecutor and judge. A San Francisco native, he served in the Korean War as a consultant to the Judge Advocate General, U.S. Army. After the war, he took a position as an assistant district attorney in San Francisco, where he conducted more than 150 jury trials in the Superior Court.

William was also a law professor at San Francisco City College and a frequent lecturer at San Francisco’s police academy. He continued his career as a Superior Court judge, pro tem, on the Superior Court Arbitration Panel, as a Superior Court special master and as a member of the American Arbitration Association. At the age of 77, he became a member and an officer of the Supreme Court of the United Sates.

UC Hastings has named its law library’s director suite in the Auslens’ honor.

The Center for WorkLife Law (WLL) at UC Hastings College of the Law has received a $30,000 grant from the NoVo Foundation to support the development of a working group of employment lawyers and Ob/Gyn doctors, and others to advance women’s economic rights. Get the full story here.

Peter and Melanie Maier ’81

Peter and Melanie Maier ’81 have generously supported UC Hastings for more than 40 years, and their gifts have enabled the law school to continue enrolling the most qualified students, and attract the most accomplished legal scholars to the faculty.

Peter, who was a professor of law at UC Hastings from 1967 to 1995, established the Bernard and Joan Maier Memorial Scholarship Fund in 1969 in honor of his parents. Over the years, the fund has provided support to more than 30 students. Peter and Melanie’s most recent gift of $100,000 is designated to enhance the Maier Scholarship Fund, and in gratitude, UC Hastings has named the faculty library in their honor.

Peter has also long been committed to helping UC Hastings engage and retain world-class faculty.  In 1981 he established the Alfred and Hanna Fromm Chair in International and Comparative Law, which he named for his aunt and uncle. The Fromm chair provides funding for a distinguished faculty member and is presently held by Professor Ugo Mattei, who teaches comparative law and political economy of law. 

A UC Hastings alumna, Melanie is the author of several volumes of verse, including Sticking to Earth and The Land of Us. Peter cofounded Maier Siebel Baber, a real estate investment company, and is president of the Larkspur-based investment firm Private Wealth Partners.

L. Richard Fischer ’70 Establishes $125,000 Endowed Scholarship Fund

Rick Fischer ’70 recently made a generous gift of $125,000 to create an endowed scholarship fund. The scholarship will help support a student who attended the University of San Francisco and who, after one year at UC Hastings, has placed in the top 10 percent of his or her class. “Scholarships play a vital role in helping to alleviate our students’ financial burden,” says Dean Frank H. Wu. “We are most grateful to Rick for his vision and generosity.” Get the full story here