LEGACIES

The power of legacies

When an individual or family makes a decision to remember the University of London in their Will, the impact is huge. A legacy provides us with better financial stability. It helps us plan how we can change lives and the world through opening up access to education, providing practical and emotional student support, pushing further with transformative research, and creating richer community engagement. We are grateful to all those who support the University in this way, and we are pleased to celebrate the impact their generosity makes this year, and beyond.

Professor Thomas C Fischer

We are deeply moved to have been honoured by the estate of Professor Thomas C Fischer and Mrs Brenda A Fischer with a major gift to the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS). This incredible gift of over £1.6million will support our unique IALS Library, providing essential, ongoing funding ensuring its bright and healthy future.

A lifelong love of knowledge

A distinguished American legal academic, Professor Fischer’s relationship with the University of London began almost 30 years ago. He first spent a year in residence after being awarded an Inns of Court Visiting Fellowship to IALS in 1996. During his time at the Institute, Professor Fischer furthered his groundbreaking research in the area of international law and globalisation. His research was to prove instrumental in the creation of his book, The Europeanization of America (1996), of which the International & Comparative Law Quarterly review commented Professor Fischer demonstrated “extensive research” and “mastery of the primary materials”, leading the reviewer to describe it as “the most lucid discussion of Economic and Monetary Union which I have yet seen”.

Professor Fischer graduated from the University of Cincinnati and Georgetown University, going on to serve as Dean of the New England Law School from 1978 to 1981. He remained a professor there until his retirement in 2003. His career as an author spanned decades, with the publication of 12 influential books, including Legal Gridlock: A Critique of the American Legal System and What's Wrong with “Globalization”?

“My colleagues and I are touched by the generosity of Professor and Mrs Fischer in remembering the Institute. It is gratifying to know that Professor Fischer enjoyed his time as an Inns of Court Visiting Fellow. This gift will have a major impact on the development of the IALS Library collection, further strengthening our position as the national law library.”

Professor Carl Stychin
Director of IALS

A legacy befitting of a national library

Officially opened in 1948 with the mission of becoming the leading research law library in the UK, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library is one of the world’s leading comparative research libraries. As well as holding well over 311,000 volumes, it is a national law library, and across its physical, digital and archive assets, holds significant material not otherwise available in the United Kingdom.

Protecting the jewel in the crown

The Library is rightly described as ‘the jewel in the Institute’s crown’, and the Fischers’ transformative gift has been bequeathed for the purpose of acquiring library resources concerning United States-European Union relations and globalisation, adding huge value to this unique and globally important resource. Given the size of the gift, it has now been endowed to ensure that it can provide resources on an ongoing basis.

The Fischer family’s gift to the University has been celebrated across the Institute and beyond. Ms Marilyn Clarke, IALS Librarian, said: “The Library is deeply grateful and honoured. Our foreign, international, and comparative collections are a major national resource in support of academic research in their field, and this generous gift will allow us to enhance our collection development, as well as our engagement and outreach activities across the HE and law libraries sectors.”

IALS was named as one of four residuary beneficiaries by the Fischers, along with the New England School of Law, Georgetown University Law Centre, and Wolfson College.

A rare and extraordinary gift

In March, Senate House Library received a rare and extraordinary 13th century parchment Psalter. The medieval manuscript contains the Book of Psalms in Latin translation from the Hebrew version and was left to the Library by the late manuscript scholar Elspeth Yeo. This document is a great contribution to the Library’s small but highly significant collection, and we’re extremely grateful to Ms Yeo’s estate for remembering the University in this way.

Gifts in Wills leave a lasting impact on the University, our students and our research. Find out more about how you can support our work with a gift in your Will by visiting our website.