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 2000 were as follows:
Dianne M. Nast, Esq., Lancaster, Pa., chair
Richard D. Casey, Esq., Sioux Falls, S.D.
Laurie L. Michel, Esq., Washington, D.C.
Charles B. Renfrew, Esq., San Francisco, Cal.
Marna S. Tucker, Esq., Washington, D.C.
John B. White, Jr., Esq., Spartanburg, S.C.
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 2000:
- A grant from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants supported seminars to help judges analyze financial statements presented as evidence.
- A grant from the Georgetown University Law Center supported a seminar for judges on environmental law that the Center presented in cooperation with the law center.
- A grant from the Ford Foundation supported a visiting judge from China in the Center’s Visiting Judicial Fellows program.
- Undesignated funds were used to support several judicial seminars on special topics, such as intellectual property law; a program for senior court managers; and in-court 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 to improve the administration of justice. Foundation funds related to these agreements were not used in 2000.