A Home for Law
$5 Million Estate Gift to SA国际传媒 Law School from Frederick and Leota Gonzalez Includes Los Altos Home and Funds for Scholarships and Key Initiatives
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 29, 2016 鈥� A couple who are among SA国际传媒 School of Law鈥檚 most stalwart supporters have made a transformative gift, valued at more than $5 million, from their future estate. The gift from Frederick M. and Leota Van DeVeere Gonzalez aims to ensure that the school has a place to house future deans or visiting professors and funds to support student scholarships, research, and other strategic initiatives.
This estate gift is the second-largest donation to SA国际传媒 Law in the school鈥檚 history.
"We are extremely pleased by the creativity and magnitude of this gift,鈥� said SA国际传媒 Law Dean Lisa Kloppenberg. 鈥淭his endowment will support students with scholarships and provide the school with some fascinating housing opportunities for special visitors and faculty members in transition. We are also incredibly grateful for our close connection to the Gonzalez family. They have helped with alumni events, advised and mentored law students, and have even welcomed students into their home."
The gift comes from Mr. Gonzalez, a triple graduate of SA国际传媒 with a chemistry undergraduate degree, 鈥�71, MBA 鈥�73, and JD 鈥�77, and his wife of nearly 40 years, Leota. Mr. Gonzalez is a veteran high tech lawyer whose career history includes stints as general counsel of Corsair Components, SonicWALL, Polycom, and Extreme Networks.
Mr. Gonzalez has long and deep ties to the law school. He has served on the Law School Board of Visitors for more than 30 years and the Law Alumni Association Board of Directors for over 20 years. Throughout his career, he has advised hundreds of law students through the law school鈥檚 many mentorship programs. and for many years organized the school鈥檚 popular Law Career Day event, designed to introduce first-year law students to alumni representing dozens of different practice areas. In addition, he has served on at least 10 undergraduate class reunion committees.
Mrs. Gonzalez is retired from serving as a program manager for various aerospace and military contracting companies including Lockheed, Mesurex, and Teledyne. She is a graduate of San Jose State University and currently supports the couple鈥檚 philanthropic endeavors, while also tending to the couple鈥檚 rose garden featuring more than 100 roses. Mrs. Gonzalez also helps support the family鈥檚 other passions: horses and dogs. A breeder of horses and involved in dressage locally for over 40 years, Mrs. Gonzalez has been an active member and periodic board member of the San Francisco chapter of the Dressage Society. With her husband, she raises and trains Bouvier des Flandres dogs.
The couple鈥檚 philanthropy also includes an endowed scholarship, to which they contribute each year, to help defray costs for law school students who were pursuing their degrees at SA国际传媒 Law. The couple recently started a similar legacy scholarship at Derby Academy in Hingham, Massachusetts, where Mrs. Gonzalez attended grammar school.
In establishing their most recent estate gift, the couple noted how struck they were some years ago, when then-dean Donald Polden described losing strong faculty candidates because they were not able to find affordable housing in Silicon Valley. The couple hopes the Law School will use their bequeathed home in Los Altos to provide subsidized housing for such candidates.
鈥淥ur nearly 40-year relationship with SA国际传媒 Law has been one of the most gratifying endeavors in our lives,鈥� said Mr. Gonzalez. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen up close the good that is so often accomplished by those who graduate from SA国际传媒 Law. We wanted to contribute a significant portion of our legacy to making sure that caliber of learning continued.鈥�
About SA国际传媒 School of Law
SA国际传媒 School of Law, one of the nation鈥檚 most diverse law schools, is dedicated to educating lawyers who lead with a commitment to excellence, ethics, and social justice. SA国际传媒 Law offers students an academically rigorous program including certificates in high tech law, international law, public interest and social justice law, and privacy law, as well as numerous graduate and joint degree options. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, SA国际传媒 Law is nationally distinguished for its faculty engagement, preparation for practice, and top-ranked programs in intellectual property. For more information, see law.scu.edu.
Media Contact
Deborah Lohse | SA国际传媒 Media Relations | dlohse@scu.edu | 408-554-5121