Lubars give $5.5 million to Marquette Law School for public policy center

The Marquette University Law School on Tuesday announced the creation of a new public policy research institution funded by a $5.5 million contribution from Milwaukee investor and philanthropist Sheldon Lubar and his wife Marianne.

The Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education will expand the law school's already considerable engagement in civic, political and social issues. The law school routinely hosts conferences, lectures, fellowships and debates that target key public issues, and once earned the moniker "Milwaukee's public square."

"Education is the pathway to a happy prosperous life and we feel that is the most gratifying thing we can do," said Sheldon Lubar, founder and chairman of the Milwaukee-based Lubar & Co. investment firm. “Marquette Law School has played a leading role in significant discussions and research on important topics. At the same time, there is so much more to be done."

The Lubar Center, located in the law school's Ray and Kay Eckstein Hall, the glassy modern building visible from the Marquette Interchange, will support research initiatives and civic education work "and beyond," the university said in a statement.

The new funding “gives us a chance to do bigger and better things” – meaning more public events, research and reporting projects –  said Mike Gousha, a distinguished fellow at the law school and host of its "On the Issues" conversation series. “You want to be an incubator of ideas.”

In an age of “fake news” and “alternative facts” – not to mention social media feeds that reinforce people's existing opinions without challenging viewpoints – anything that elevates public discourse should be applauded, said Rob Henken, president of the Public Policy Forum, a Milwaukee-based non-profit research group.

“In this day and age when people are getting their information from so many different places, it's always beneficial to have objective entities to create public forums at which people can hear from expert speakers, absorb facts and come to informed policy positions,” Henken said. Marquette’s law school, he added, has the capacity and resources to recruit national speakers. “They have connections throughout the policy world,” Henken said.

“Marquette University Law School is deeply committed to serving our community in ways even beyond our primary goal of providing outstanding legal education,” said Joseph Kearney, dean of the law school.

The $5.5 million contribution from the Lubar family expands on a $1.5 million fund, which the Lubars contributed in 2010. The initial contribution already has endowed numerous fellowships, research projects and partnerships. Using Lubar fellowships, the law school partnered with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on research-intensive journalism projects, including an examination of Milwaukee's lagging entrepreneurial environment ("A Time to Build," 2013); the extreme political polarization in the metro region ("Dividing Lines," 2015); prospects for the city's downtown and impact of a proposed sports arena (2014-'15); and most recently, an examination of how the city's long-term industrial decline left behind an epidemic of childhood trauma ("A Time to Heal," 2017).

As an investor, Lubar is known for patient long-term strategic shareholdings even as many fund managers look for quick-turnaround gains. “We try not to be sellers,” Lubar said, “just buyers and builders.”

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The same long-term strategic perspectives spill over into the Lubar family philanthropic philosophy, which has been quiet but influential in the region and state.

“We've directed the bulk of our philanthropy to education and learning,” endowing new departments as well as scholarships, the 87-year-old businessman said in an interview. He and his wife have donated tens of millions to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, including the business school, the Peck School of the Arts and most recently a Center for Entrepreneurship. At UW-Madison, the Lubars donated to the law school, the business school and the Department of Computer Sciences. They’ve made endowments at Alverno College, the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.

Lubar himself has been a regular attendee at events in the Marquette law school's Appellate Courtroom, where many of the seminars and lectures are held. It will be renamed the Lubar Center. The existing roster of events includes:

• On the Issues with Gousha, an award-winning broadcast journalist. Gousha joined the law school in 2007 as distinguished fellow in law and public policy and hosts conferences with newsmakers, authors, scholars and politicians.
• Public programming focused on K-12 education issues, including the work of senior fellow in law and public policy Alan Borsuk. (Borsuk also has a weekly column in the Journal Sentinel.)
• The ongoing Marquette University Law School Poll. Established in 2012 under the direction of Charles Franklin, the poll is the most extensive statewide public opinion project in Wisconsin history.
• The Water Law and Policy initiative, led by director David Strifling, which supports initiatives by the city and its universities to expand metro Milwaukee's role as a global hub of water technology, research and stewardship.
• Political debates between candidates for public office, which have been broadcast live to statewide audiences.

“We all benefit from the many community-building contributions of the Lubar family,” said Marquette President Michael Lovell.

"Our goal is to be a resource for the region and state,” Gousha said.

Journal Sentinel reporter John Schmid recently reported the special report "A Time To Heal" with a Marquette Law School fellowship established through the Sheldon B. Lubar Fund for Public Policy Research.