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USC Gould School of Law Receives $4.2 Million in Gifts to Support Teaching and Scholars
USC Gould School of Law has received two pledges totaling more than $4 million to create a teaching award and a faculty chair.
William Rutter, a 1955 USC Law graduate and founder of The Rutter Group, one of the leading legal publishing companies in the country, pledged $1.2 million to endow the William A. Rutter Distinguished Teaching Award.
With a prize of $50,000, the award will be given annually to a USC Law professor who demonstrates exceptional abilities in the classroom. The purpose, Rutter said, is to recognize the additional time and effort great law teachers apply to preparation and classroom performance. Such a prize is unusual in the legal academy, where most academic institutions value scholarship and academic publishing over teaching skill.
“I see this award going to the kind of professor who exposes students to different ways of thinking,” Rutter says. “My hope and expectation is that the award will encourage younger faculty to devote more time to classroom teaching, in addition to their scholarly research.”
Stephen P. Rader, a 1981 USC Law graduate, pledged $3 million to establish an endowment to fund the Rader Family Trustees Chair in Law. In addition to honoring his father, the gift is designed to help USC Law continue its rise in national prominence. A trustee chair is the highest level endowed faculty position at the university; prominent faculty positions such as this help the law school attract nationally renowned legal scholars to its faculty.
Like his father, Stanley Rader, a 1963 USC Law graduate, Stephen received his bachelor’s degree in accounting and went on to USC Law for his law degree. Both father and son graduated at the top of their law school classes.
“My family’s ties to the university are very strong,” said Rader. “When I decided to go to law school, I only applied to USC because I wanted to carry on the family tradition. Since my father passed away in 2002, one of my goals was to honor him, the family and our USC heritage. Creating an endowed chair seemed very fitting, especially because my father taught as an adjunct professor. I think he would have been excited about a gift that helps the law school attract the very best faculty.”
Both Rader and Rutter are USC Law Board of Councilors members. Their backgrounds are different, but their ties to USC Law are equally strong.
After graduating from USC Law, Rutter practiced with classmate Sydney Irmas, specializing in business litigation and appellate work until 1970. During this time, he also wrote and published all of the original “Gilbert Law Summaries,” the most popular study aid for law students in the country, and with Irmas co-founded the company that became BAR/BRI Bar Review, which offers the largest bar review course in
After graduating in 1981, Rader practiced as a corporate securities attorney and a certified public accountant. He then served as a managing director for Bear, Stearns & Co., prior to joining Chartwell Partners in 1989. In 1997, he co-founded Rader Reinfrank &
Aside from his involvement on the USC Law Board of Councilors, Rader — whose daughter Haley, now a sophomore at USC, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 5 — also is active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, serving as a board member in the Los Angeles chapter and chairing several fundraising events. Rader is an avid photographer as well; he has exhibited internationally and has won several awards.
Contributions from committed alumni like Rader and Rutter are vital to USC Law’s continued success as an academic institution and leader in the legal community, said
“USC Law graduates are extraordinary people who share a deep love for the school, a passion for excellence and a desire to help,” said McCaffery. “We are especially fortunate to count Bill and Steve among our most loyal and supportive alumni.”
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