Contact: Christine Hammond, MSU College of Law, (517) 432-6804; or Russ White, University Relations, (517) 432-0923, whiterus@msu.edu

10/21/2005

Copyright 2005 Michael J. Schimpf Photography

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Clifton E. and Carolyn Haley of Drummond Island have made a planned gift commitment of $4 million to Michigan State University College of Law to establish the law college’s first endowed chairs.

The Clifton E. Haley Chair in Business Law and the Carolyn Haley Chair in Law will provide a stipend and additional program funds for the professors chosen for the distinction. Recipients will be selected based on demonstrated excellence in research and teaching. In addition, the gift will establish two endowed scholarships for entering students with exceptional academic credentials.

“Carolyn and I have been pleased to be a part of the growth of MSU College of Law,” said Haley, a 1961 graduate of the law college and its current president. “The affiliation with MSU has expanded opportunities for my alma mater and its current students. We hope our gift will help to advance the college’s bright future and that it will encourage other contributions.”

The gift was announced at a gala celebration of MSU’s sesquicentennial on Oct. 21. Clifton Haley serves on the President’s Council for the Campaign for MSU.

“The university appreciates the generous contribution of Clif and Carolyn Haley. Not only have they been instrumental in the growth of MSU College of Law, they have made significant contributions to the university in this, its sesquicentennial year,” said Lou Anna K. Simon, president of MSU. “I am pleased that the Haley’s gift will enable the law college to extend the opportunities it provides for talented faculty and students.”

“The Haley’s contribution will enable the law college to build its academic program in new dimensions. That the Haley’s establish the first endowed chairs at MSU Law is indicative of Haley’s dynamic leadership over the years,” said Terence L. Blackburn, dean and professor of law.“Haley’s vision has enabled the college to boldly move into its second century of service and education. These gifts will enable us to retain, attract, and support some of the very best law professors and students in the nation.”

Haley, former chairperson of the board and chief executive officer of Budget Rent-a-Car Corp., is the president and owner of the Drummond Island Resort and Conference Center on Drummond Island where he and his wife, a former Michigan teacher and assistant principal of a Chicago inner-city school, reside.

Clif Haley became a member of the college’s Board of Trustees in 1997, served as vice president from 1998 to 2002, and assumed the presidency of the college in 2001.He has served on the board’s executive, development, marketing and recruitment, and finance committees in addition to serving as a director of the law college’s foundation board.

“Clifton Haley has been an extraordinary leader at the school for many years,” said David Porteous, chairperson of the MSU Board of Trustees.“He brings a strong commitment and enthusiasm to the law school together with a keen financial mind. This gift provides a lasting legacy of his dedication.”

As an MSU Law adjunct faculty member, Haley teaches mergers and acquisitions. He has been an adjunct professor in the master of business administration programs at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie and the University of South Carolina, lecturing on strategy, corporate finance and the role of a CEO.

In addition to his law degree, Haley received an honorary doctor of laws degree from MSU College of Law in 1993. In 2003 Haley received a bachelor of arts degree in interdisciplinary humanities from the MSU College of Arts and Letters, where he attained a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

MSU College of Law was founded as the Detroit College of Law in 1891.To extend its commitment to educational excellence, the college affiliated with MSU in 1995 and moved to campus in 1997. The move enabled the law college to build state-of-the-art facilities and to provide the benefits of a Big Ten campus.

The law college strengthened its affiliation with MSU in 2004, becoming more closely aligned academically. The association between the two schools has led to a comprehensive interdisciplinary legal education program at the law college. Today, the college is one of only two private law schools to be affiliated with a major international research university.