MISSOULA — The University of Montana is proposing naming its law school in honor of Alexander Blewett III after the Great Falls personal injury attorney donated $10 million to the school.
The donation by Alexander and Andrea Blewett will create an endowed chair in consumer law and protection and endow a discretionary fund. It raised the law school’s endowment to $21 million, the UM Foundation said.
The state Board of Regents is scheduled to vote Thursday in Kalispell on a proposal to rename the law school the “Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana”.
A proposal before the board said the law school’s faculty and dean along with UM’s faculty senate, provost and president have approved the name change.
Last year, Blewett donated $800,000 for law school scholarships — which was then the largest donation to the school, the Missoulian reported.
The donation includes a $1.5 million pledge as a challenge to raise money for the Access to Legal Education Scholarship Fund. The Blewetts will match every gift of at least $500 for law school scholarships, up to a total of $1.5 million.
The University of Montana Foundation will manage the endowed funds.
Blewett’s family ties with the School of Law span generations, starting with Alexander Blewett, Jr., who graduated from the program in 1938. Zander Blewett graduated from the school in 1971, and his sons, Anders and Drew Blewett, graduated in 2007.