Aiding GW’s Scholars

A new merit fund provides full rides for two GW law students each year.

GW law students interested in innovative methods of conflict resolution have the opportunity to qualify for a full-tuition merit scholarship, thanks to a $1.2 million bequest to the Law School.

The Hyman M. and Jeanne K. Goldstein Scholarship Fund, endowed upon Ms. Goldstein's recent passing, will provide at least two full-tuition merit scholarship awards each year to students enrolled in GW’s Law School.

The Goldstein Scholarship Fund supports students who share Mr. Goldstein’s interest in innovative methods of conflict resolution as a more cost-effective option compared with traditional arbitration.

“This bequest exemplifies the forward-thinking philanthropic spirit of Hyman and Jeanne Goldstein, and it provides important impetus to the university’s Power & Promise Fund scholarship initiative,” says Law School Dean Frederick M. Lawrence.

“The Goldstein Scholarship Fund will allow GW to attract students who demonstrate the potential for acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to become effective mediators,” he says. “The Goldstein scholars also will be expected to mentor future scholarship recipients and support others in carrying out Hyman’s ideals.”

A lawyer in private practice in Washington, D.C., Hyman M. Goldstein, LL.B. ’19, LL.M. ’20, specialized in business, personal and estate law from the mid 1920s until his death in 1965.

Mr. Goldstein predicted that the increased cost of education and a greater focus on winning in the courtroom would lead to more litigation—a trend that would create crowded court dockets and frustrated, unhappy clients.

Instead, Mr. Goldstein advocated a system in which reasonable solutions could be accomplished through collaborative and amicable work with clients and attorneys outside the courtroom.

“Clients, friends and family all looked to him for advice not only in matters of business, but in life,” said Morton Goldstein, J.D. ’61, Hyman’s nephew. “He had great vision. He saw things happening in the law profession long before the rest of us did.”

The GW Law School has raised more than $8.4 million in scholarship dollars for the Power & Promise Fund, which ensures that qualified students, regardless of financial resources, can take advantage of a GW education.