The Federal Judicial Center Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation that Congress 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 2011 were as follows:
Fern M. Smith, San Francisco, Cal., Chair
Richard D. Casey, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Laurie L. Michel, Washington, D.C.
Sally M. Rider, Tucson, Ariz.
Robert K. Walsh, Winston-Salem, N.C.
John B. White, Jr., Spartanburg, S.C.
Benjamin L. Zelenko, Washington, D.C.
In creating the Foundation, Congress directed that the Center, in its annual report, describe the purposes for which Foundation gifts were used in the reporting year. The Center used the following Foundation gifts in 2011:
- Funds provided by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to cover expenses for federal judges to attend two programs on emerging issues in neuroscience.
- Funds provided by Duke University School of Law to cover expenses for federal judges to attend a seminar on class action settlement.
- Funds provided by Duke University School of Law to cover expenses for federal judges to attend a seminar on international human rights.
- Funds provided by Lewis and Clark Law School to cover expenses for federal judges to attend a seminar on environmental law.
- Non-earmarked grants to provide partial support for a judicial seminar on the humanities and science at Princeton University (the Harold Medina Seminar).