The Federal Judicial Center Foundation is a private, nonprofit statutory corporation established to receive gifts to support the work of the Center. The Foundation has sole authority to decide whether to accept gifts, 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 activities 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. No Foundation Board member may be a active judge. Foundation Board members at the close of 2003 were as follows:
Marna S. Tucker, Washington, D.C., chair
Richard D. Casey, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Charles A. Legge, San Francisco, Cal.
Laurie L. Michel, Washington, D.C.
Sam C. Pointer, Birmingham, AL.
John B. White, Jr., Spartanburg, S.C.
Benjamin L. Zelenko, Washington, D.C.
In creating the Foundation, Congress directed that this annual report describe the purposes for which Foundation gifts were used in the relevant year. The Center used these Foundation gifts in 2003:
- A multi-year grant from the Hewlett Foundation is supporting a project that provides on-site consultation to courts seeking assistance in developing or refining their alternative dispute resolution programs. In 2003 the grant supported a training program for dispute resolution consultants, travel expenses for several consultations with courts, and staff salaries for development of the program and preparation of extensive written materials to support the consultations.
- Undesignated funds were used for partial support of a judicial seminar on the humanities and science (known as the “Medina Seminar”) at Princeton University and for partial support of the Center’s Federal Judicial History Office project to provide educators with Web-based curriculum units about historic federal trials.