DARTMOUTH – Over the summer, the University of Massachusetts School of Law, housed at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, established a new scholarship fund in honor of long-term faculty member Judge George Jacobs.
While the endowment was successfully funded above $25,000 – the minimum for a UMass scholarship account – this fall, Louise Mitchell, the fund’s representative at UMass, said it would not begin issuing scholarships until next fall or January 2020.
Scholarships will be doled out “at the dean’s discretion,” said Mitchell, and will most likely start at gifts of $1,000 to one student per year. However, she added, while the school is not far in the fund’s planning process, she expects more gifts may be doled out each year as the endowment matures.
For 28 years, Jacobs taught at the law school and for more than three decades served on the benches of the Massachusetts probate, superior and appeals courts. Between 1989 and 2003, Jacobs was an associate justice on the Mass. Court of Appeals. Prior to that 14-year tenure, he served as an associate justice on the Mass. Superior Court (1981 to 1989) and an associate justice on the Bristol County Probate and Family Court (1975 to 1981).
From 1970 to 1974, Jacobs held the role of assistant attorney general for Massachusetts.
“Happy” at the establishment of the fund in honor of Jacobs, UMass Law Dean Eric Mitnick said in prepared remarks: “Jacobs has had an enormous impact, not just on the lives of students and colleagues but also on the equitable administration of justice in the South Coast region for decades.”
Jacobs additionally held a private practice from 1958 to 1975 in New Bedford, where he was city solicitor.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.