The University of Chicago Law School is expected on Wednesday to announce a $5 million gift to create a business leadership program.
The gift, from Daniel L. Doctoroff, chief executive of the financial data and media company Bloomberg L.P., and his wife, Alisa Doctoroff, president of the UJA-Federation of New York, will create a program that combines law and business classes at the university. It will make available a group of core business courses for all law students, and provide a select group of 15 students per class with a special curriculum, including advanced seminars and an assigned mentor who will provide one-on-one counseling.
“The University of Chicago has a distinguished tradition of scholarship that spans the boundaries of law and business,†the university’s president, Robert J. Zimmer, said in a statement. “Dan and Alisa Doctoroff’s generous gift will allow more students access to that scholarship, and help prepare them for effective leadership across a broad array of enterprises.â€
Mr. Doctoroff, a 1984 graduate of the law school who has had a varied career in business and government, said in a statement that it was important for lawyers to have business know-how.
“Throughout my career in government, in business, as an investor and C.E.O., I’ve worked with hundreds of lawyers across dozens of fields,†Mr. Doctoroff said. “Time after time, I’ve seen the value of lawyers who have fundamental business and financial skills, no matter their field of specialty.â€
The gift comes as law schools across the United States are overhauling their curriculums in the face of criticism that they have failed to keep up with transformations in the legal profession and the broader changes in the global economy.
Stanford Law School recently completed comprehensive changes to its curriculum, with a focus on allowing students to pursue joint degrees and coursework across various disciplines. New York University School of Law has significantly altered its third-year program to include specialized concentrations in areas like tax or patent law.
The University of Chicago offers a dual-degree program allowing graduate students to attend its law and business schools simultaneously, cramming five years of education into four. But that program, and others like it, requires full tuition payments at both schools, and the soaring cost of graduate education makes such programs prohibitively expensive for most students.
Mr. Doctoroff joined Bloomberg in 2008 as its president and became the chief executive in 2011. He served as deputy director for economic development in the Bloomberg administration for six years, and was perhaps best known for his attempt to bring the 2012 Olympics to New York City.
He earned much of his fortune on Wall Street as a senior executive at the private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. Mr. Doctoroff’s wife, Alisa, is a 1983 graduate of the University of Chicago’s business school. The two met not at Chicago, but as undergraduates at Harvard.
