Law School establishes $2.5 million fund in honor of alumnus

Exelon Corporation is marking the upcoming retirement of CEO and University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate John Rowe with a $500,000 gift to the Law School.

Exelon made a separate, $2 million gift in late 2011 that created the Exelon Corporation Faculty Fellowship Fund. The two gifts will now be combined and renamed the John W. Rowe Faculty Fellowship Fund for the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Exelon’s gifts will be used to establish up to four new faculty fellowship funds, which will support retaining mid-level faculty members.

“Our hope is we can use this to entice our best and brightest to stay at the Law School and continue to use their talents for the benefit of the UW,” says Margaret Raymond, dean of the Law School. “We’d like to be competitive not just in salary but in research support.”

Rowe wanted the donation to have a lasting effect on the Law School and having a great faculty will do just that, Raymond says.

“This will have a profound impact,” Raymond says. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for us in terms of what it enables us to offer faculty and, in turn, for what they can offer our students. Our graduates regularly tell me that memorable faculty members had profound impacts on their lives and careers; this gift will enable us to keep our faculty at UW so they can influence the next generation of lawyers.  This is a really significant vote of confidence in our law school. ”

The fund will use $1 million to start the first fellowship and $1.5 million to solicit matching gifts with a goal of reaching $4 million for faculty support.

Rowe plans to retire this year from the Chicago-based Exelon, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities. He received both his undergraduate and law degrees from UW–Madison.