UCLA Law School Receives Over $1M Gift for Scholarships

The UCLA School of Law announced Wednesday that a $1.025 million gift from California's first female presiding justice will fund scholarships for students who show a commitment to advocating for gender equality or to promoting the advancement of women in the law and society.

Recipients must also demonstrate financial need, excellence in academic achievement, leadership qualities and good citizenship traits, according to the university.

Rachel F. Moran, dean of the UCLA School of Law, said the Justice Joan Dempsey Klein Scholarships in Law "will not only help us further our commitment to providing a quality education to all students of merit, but will also ensure that our students continue the tradition of leadership that Justice Klein exemplifies."

"Our students are a top priority, and they will benefit immensely from this inspiring gift," Moran said.

Joan Klein graduated from the UCLA School of Law in 1954.

"As I have said many times, my law school education at UCLA gave me a life -- and a good life it has been," she said.

The jurist and her husband, Conrad Lee Klein, also recently contributed $1.025 million to Santa Monica College to create the Conrad Lee Klein Fund for Online Education.

The most senior appellate justice in the state, Joan Klein is the presiding justice of the state Court of Appeal, 2nd Appellate District, Division 3, in Los Angeles, a post she has held since 1978. She is the first graduate of the UCLA School of Law to be appointed to the bench.

The co-founder and first president of the National Association of Women Judges is also the founding president of the California Women Lawyers Association.

Her husband previously was outside legal counsel to Mark Hughes, the late founder and president of Herbalife, and is the trustee of Hughes' family trust and president of the Mark Hughes Charity Foundation.