Pritzker Family Donates $100 Million to Northwestern Law School

The 156-year-old Northwestern University School of Law will be named the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law following a $100 million donation from alumnus J.B. Pritzker and his wife, M.K. Pritzker.

It is the largest single gift ever, to any law school, according to a University news release.

“The Pritzkers’ game-changing gift will allow the best students, no matter what their socio-economic background, to get a legal education at one of the top law schools in the country,” according to the release. “In addition, it simultaneously focuses on the advancement of the study of law, business and technology, and on public interest initiatives in the areas of civil and human rights.”

The funding will help support and advance the Law School’s strategy of developing new kinds of highly marketable lawyers -- “creative, constructive problem-solvers armed with entrepreneurial and multidisciplinary skills, resolutely committed to social justice and the rule of law.”

The gift will support several social justice centers at Northwestern Law School, including the Center on Wrongful Convictions, the Children and Family Justice Center, the Center on International Human Rights and the Environmental Law Center.

The gift will also permanently endow and rename the Law School’s Entrepreneurship Law Center; the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurial Law Center, honoring the late J.B. Pritzker’s father, who was co-founder and chief executive of Hyatt Hotels Corporation.