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 2015 were as follows:
James M. Wagstaffe, San Francisco, Cal., Chair;
Richard D. Casey, Sioux Falls, S.D.;
Laurie L. Michel, Washington, D.C.;
Blake D. Morant, Winston-Salem, N.C.;
John B. White, Jr., Spartanburg, S.C.; and
Benjamin L. Zelenko, Washington, D.C.
In creating the Foundation, Congress directed that in its annual report the Center describe the purposes for which Foundation gifts were used in the reporting year. The Center used the following Foundation gifts in 2015:
- Funds provided by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to cover travel expenses for federal judges to attend two programs on emerging issues in neuroscience.
- Funds provided by the Electronic Discovery Institute to cover travel expenses for judges to attend a seminar on the theories and practical considerations surrounding the proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
- Funds provided by Vanderbilt University to cover travel expenses for mid-career federal judges to attend a seminar on issues and challenges faced by judges who have served five to ten years on the bench.
- Funds provided by the George Mason University Foundation to cover travel expenses for judges to attend a seminar on antitrust law.
- Nonearmarked grants to support a judicial seminar on the humanities and science at Princeton University (the Harold Medina Seminar).