The Federal Judicial Center Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation established by Congress to receive 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 1999 (there was one vacancy) were as follows:
Dianne M. Nast, Esq., Lancaster, Pennsylvania, chair
Laurie L. Michel, Esq., Washington, D.C.
Richard M. Rosenbaum, Esq., Rochester, New York
Benjamin L. Zelenko, Esq., Washington, D.C.
Charles B. Renfrew, Esq., San Francisco, California
Marna S. Tucker, 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 1999:
- A grant from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants supported seminars to help judges analyze financial statements.
- A grant from the U.S. Department of State supported a seminar for judges from the Russian Federation on the role of the judiciary in the protection of intellectual property.
- A grant from the Hewlett Foundation supported a seminar for federal court ADR administrators.
- Undesignated funds were used to support one program for senior court managers and several of the Center’s special focus judicial education programs.
Under a 1994 agreement between the Center’s board, the foundation’s board, and the Judicial Conference, the Center presents education programs for foreign judges and other legal officials to assist them in improving the administration of justice in their countries, and the foundation receives gifts designated for the Judicial Conference’s use for this purpose. The Center and foundation boards and the Conference expanded the agreement in 1998 to include education programs for state and federal judges and other programs designed to improve the administration of justice. Foundation funds donated by the U.S. Agency for International Development and accepted pursuant to these agreements were used in 1999, at the request of the Agency for International Development, to support judges and court administrators traveling to Nigeria and providing technical assistance there.