UCLA Law launches center to address ‘revolutionary change’ in philanthropy and nonprofits
With the launch of the Lowell Milken Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofits, UCLA School of Law is poised to become the national destination in the field, bringing together scholars, practitioners, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders, and policymakers to research this critical area and educate law students and experts in the discipline.
The center’s predecessor, UCLA Law’s Program on Philanthropy and Nonprofits, was established with an initial gift of $3.7 million in 2021 from alumnus Lowell Milken. A new $8.05 million gift from Milken has elevated the program into a research center. Milken is widely respected for groundbreaking national initiatives created over four decades of strategic philanthropy.
“We are deeply grateful to Lowell Milken for his support of this center — just one of the many, many ways in which he has contributed to our university over the years,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. “Drawing on his own background and unique lens on the dimensions of philanthropy, he is helping UCLA further develop its leadership in an important area of scholarship and training.”
“Lowell’s continued investment in UCLA Law is focused on making our school the destination for the study and analysis of philanthropy and nonprofit law and policy,” said Michael Waterstone, dean of UCLA Law. “With his support, UCLA Law’s new Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofits is well situated to transform the field by training the next generation of nonprofit lawyers, developing scholarship and bringing together the nonprofit sector’s many stakeholders for events and courses in tax law, governance, compliance and much more.”
A pair of widely admired UCLA Law leaders will continue their work in guiding the school’s efforts in this area.