DLA Piper Establishes Amy Schulman Fund for Women and Gender

DLA Piper, one of the world’s largest law firms, has given Wesleyan $500,000 to establish the Amy Schulman Fund for Women and Gender, which will support work in this field at Wesleyan’s Center for the Humanities.

Schulman ’82, P ’11, is a former partner of DLA Piper who served on the firm’s Board and Executive Policy committees. She is a member of Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees and is currently executive vice president and general counsel of Pfizer, Inc.

The gift will enhance the program of Wesleyan’s Center for the Humanities, one of the oldest of the humanities institutes in the United States. The Center has a distinguished record of supporting interdisciplinary scholarship, particularly between the humanities and the social sciences. It also assists faculty and students with individual research or teaching projects.

As an undergraduate, Schulman was a student fellow at the Center. The fellowship gave her extended time for independent research and presentation of her work, dialog with peers and faculty mentors, and the opportunity to interact with visiting scholars—valuable experience in taking individual initiative and in teamwork for a future professional woman and leader.

“I can’t imagine a better way to honor such a dedicated alumna and champion of women’s rights,” says President Michael S. Roth. “Amy knows firsthand how the Center for the Humanities can provide a transformative experience that enables students to better understand their capacity for important, productive work. I am grateful to DLA Piper for this act of generosity and recognition.”

Jill Morawski, director of the Center for Humanities and professor of psychology, says: “This gift is much appreciated, especially as it arrives just when we have redesigned the Center’s mission to better serve the humanities. The gift recognizes the Center’s commitment to fostering the original research undertaken by students, as Amy Schulman experienced. It recognizes as well the Center’s longstanding interest in the study of women and gender, a focus that has been importantly featured in lectures, scholarship, and courses.”

Under a challenge grant that the Mellon Foundation recently awarded to the Center, the foundation will match the DLA Piper gift with an additional $250,000.