News and Progress

MU School of Law receives $100,000 to benefit international aspect of dispute resolution program

June 13, 2005

The University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law will strengthen the international reach of its Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution thanks to a $100,000 gift from Geoffrey Oelsner Jr.

A large portion of the gift will be used to establish an endowment to fund one or more annual awards to full-time students or faculty members at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town, South Africa, who wish to participate in MU's master of laws in dispute resolution (LLM) program.

“My mother had always been interested in charitable efforts to further civil and human rights,” Oelsner said. “This represented a tremendous opportunity for us to go from being of some help in our home state to being of help to an area of intense hope and suffering — South Africa.”

MU has a long standing relationship with UWC, a historically black university with a law school that former South African President Nelson Mandela relied upon when he chose his cabinet. In the summer of 2004, the MU School of Law established a study abroad program with UWC that gave MU law students the opportunity to study in South Africa. Today, nine MU law students are enrolled at UWC.

“It is extremely gratifying that Geoff Oelsner has decided to make such a significant investment in the Law School and its Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution,” said Larry Dessem, dean of the law school. “The Center has received national recognition for its pioneering and creative work in the area of dispute resolution. Geoff's gift will allow the Law School to expand its programs within the United States and extend this work internationally.”

MU's nationally recognized Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution was established in 1984 to promote greater understanding of conflict and conflict resolution in the legal profession and in society at large as well as to develop new forms of lawyering.

A portion of the gift also will fund research, writing and travel expenses for a professor's work in the area of civil rights and liberties as well as a mindfulness seminar sponsored by the Center.