UCLA Law Receives Gift to Fund Student Scholarships
Masin Family Establishes Student Awards for Academic Excellence
A generous gift from Nancy L. Abell ’79 and Leslie B. Abell has established the Nancy L. Abell and Leslie B. Abell Endowed Scholarship Fund. The scholarship will be used to support UCLA School of Law students, and recipients will be selected based on academic merit, demonstrated leadership and financial need. “Supporting our students is a top priority at UCLA Law, and I am deeply gratified that our distinguished alumni continue to recognize this need,” Dean NANCY L. ABELL Rachel F. Moran said. “Our students will benefit greatly from the generosity of Nancy and Leslie Abell and from their dedication to promoting access to a quality legal education.” Nancy Abell, who is consistently recognized as one of the country’s top employment litigators and counselors, is a partner in the Employment Law Department of Paul Hastings LLP. She previously served as the global chair of the firm’s Employment Law Department. She has successfully defended clients in numerous high-profile discrimination and wagehour class actions, represented numerous leading national law firms in partner and glass ceiling cases and represented members of the judiciary. “My UCLA Law education played an important role in helping me to achieve both professional and personal success,” Abell said. “Leslie and I are so pleased to be able to give back by supporting up-and-coming lawyers and contributing to their success as the next generation of top legal professionals.” Abell has received numerous accolades and honors. She has been ranked among The Best Lawyers in America for 25 years and she was named as one of the decade’s 40 most influential lawyers (one of three employment lawyers) by The National Law Journal. She is repeatedly recognized as one of California’s “Top 100” Lawyers, Top Employment Lawyers and Top Women Lawyers by the Daily Journal, among other honors. She is a member of the UCLA School of Law Board of Advisors, a member and past chair of the Board of Governors of the Institute for Corporate Counsel, and a member of the Board of Advisors for the National Employment Law Institute and American Employment Law Council.
A new gift from the Masin Family Foundation will create the Masin Family Academic Excellence Awards to recognize and award outstanding achievement in particular subject-matter areas. The awards will be given to the highest performing students in competitive law school courses with a curve. The recipients will receive a certificate of achievement, a notation of the award on their transcripts and MICHAEL T. MASIN a cash prize. “We are extremely grateful for the generosity of the Masin family and their ongoing commitment to promote academic excellence at UCLA School of Law,” Dean Rachel F. Moran said. “The new awards will spur our students to distinguish themselves and will ensure that UCLA Law continues to attract academically gifted students who go on to become global leaders and lawyers of distinction.” This gift builds on the Masin family’s earlier commitment to recognizing the highest levels of academic attainment. In 2008, Michael T. Masin ’69, his wife Joanne and the Masin Family Foundation made a $6 million gift to the law school, which at the time was the largest commitment to UCLA Law by a living alumnus. The gift established the Michael T. Masin Scholars Program, which recognizes the 12 highest performing students after the first year of law school. Michael Masin, a prominent business leader, began his career at the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers. After 25 years, he left the firm to join GTE Corporation and held progressively senior positions with GTE and its successor company, Verizon Communications. Masin served on the Board of Directors of Citigroup and, in 2002, was elected vice chairman and chief operating officer of the company. He now devotes his time to several business ventures. At UCLA Law, he is currently a member of the Board of Advisors and the Centennial Campaign Cabinet. He is also on the Advisory Board for the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy. The law school honored Masin in 2003 as Alumnus of the Year for Professional Achievement.
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