The Federal Judicial Center Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation that receives gifts to support the work of the Center. By statute, the foundation has sole authority to decide whether to accept gifts to support the work of the Center, and thereby to determine the suitability of would-be donors. The foundation may not accept gifts earmarked for projects that have not previously been approved by the Center's Board, and the Center has sole control over the design and conduct of research or education programs supported by donations.
The foundation is governed by a seven-person board appointed by the Chief Justice, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The members of the foundation's board during 1997 were as follows:
Philip W. Tone, Esq., Chicago, Illinois, Chair
E. William Crotty, Esq., Daytona Beach, Florida
Dianne M. Nast, Esq., Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Robert D. Raven, Esq., San Francisco, California
Richard M. Rosenbaum, Esq., Rochester, New York
Benjamin L. Zelenko, Esq., Washington, D.C.
Grants to the foundation provide important financial assistance for Center programs in specialized areas. Foundation gifts were used for the following purposes in 1997:
- The Supreme Court Historical Society made a gift for an oral history project for retired Supreme Court justices.
- A grant from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation supported a seminar for judges on health care issues.
- A grant from the National Institute of Certified Public Accountants supported training to help judges analyze financial statements.
- A grant from the American Society of International Law provided funds to help circulate the International Judicial Observer.
- The Department of Commerce made a grant to support a seminar for judges and legal officials from the Russian Federation and Ukraine on protection of intellectual property.
- The U.S. State Department made a grant to support a seminar for judges and legal officials from the Russian Federation on the exploitation of women and children.
- The US. Department of Justice made grants to conduct seminars for judges and prosecutors from the Russian Federation and Ukraine on combating organized crime.
- A grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development supported seminars for judges from the Russian Federation and Ukraine on court management and administrative law.
- A charitable grant from the Carnegie Corporation helped to support the Center's judicial education programs on science and technology.
- Undesignated funds were used to support the annual seminar for state and federal judges on science and the humanities at Princeton University.
- Undesignated funds were used to support a seminar for state and federal judges on basic issues of science at the Banbury Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Huntington, New York.