MEDIA CONTACT: Patricia Tremmel at 847-491-4892 or p-tremmel@northwestern.edu

March 8, 2005

Jim Thompson Among Law Alumni Honored for Public Service Work

CHICAGO --- The Northwestern University School of Law’s Student Funded Public Interest Fellowship (SFPIF) will honor three prominent alumni for outstanding contributions to public service and the legal community at a benefit dinner Thursday, April 14, at the School of Law.

They are former Illinois governor Jim Thompson (JD, 1959), chairman and CEO at Winston & Strawn, Jeffrey Cummings (JD, 1987), co-administrative partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland and Diane Geraghty (JD, 1972), professor and interim dean at Loyola University School of Law.

Thompson is being recognized for his decades of service to the state of Illinois and the nation, first as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District and then as the state's longest-serving chief executive, as well as for his contributions on national boards and commissions. The recognition of Geraghty is for her many contributions to the field of children's law and her years of service in the protection of civil liberties, and Cummings  is being honored for his efforts to advance the cause of civil rights, both through his private practice and his extensive service with the non-profit sector. 

The non-profit Student Funded Public Interest Fellowship is dedicated to funding law students working in unpaid positions at public interest organizations during the summer. The SFPIF grant was renamed the Len Rubinowitz Public Interest Fellowship in 1991 to honor Professor Rubinowitz’s public service contributions to the law school and greater Chicago community.

Last year SFPIF raised nearly $90,000 and awarded 30 public interest fellowship grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 to students working full-time summer internships in public interest law. The organization plans to raise at least that amount again this year.

(Tickets for the benefit dinner, on Thursday, April 14, from 6 to 9 p.m., are $100 for individuals and $900 for tables of 10. All proceeds go towards SFPIF grants.)

This event is sponsored in part by Winston & Strawn LLP.