Alexander (Zander) Blewett, III: Alexander Blewett III School of Law
The Missoulian, 9/11/15, by Kathryn Haake
Blewett to his law school: Graduate great lawyers, judges ... and a president
Two decades ago, Great Falls attorney Alexander Blewett was able to make a $50 donation to his alma mater, the University of Montana School of Law.
On Friday, UM renamed its law school the Alexander Blewett III School of Law in a formal ceremony honoring the trial attorney and his wife Andrea, who upped their donation from $50 to $10 million, one of the largest gifts ever bestowed upon the university.
"All Andy and I ask in return for this gift to the law school is that it spew out many great trial lawyers, some lawyer-legislators that support public education, a whole lot of judges, a few United States senators and one presidency of the United States – again all of whom believe in public education," Blewett remarked during his emotional speech to a group of lawmakers, judges, attorneys, law faculty, family and friends.
Blewett, whose father and sons also attended UM's law school, pointed to the decline of government-funded public education and asked that future leaders who graduate from the law school rectify that.
As a trial lawyer, Blewett said his firm has represented 900 clients "injured through no fault of their own," whose insurance companies refused to compensate them. He called those clients the "source" of the gift to UM.
"This is important," Blewett said. "This made their lives better, but there is a joker in there – a hook. And that is that they had to pay a fee to make their lives better, a fee that cut into their compensation they were entitled to. It's that fee that has funded this gift. And it rests solely on their shoulders."
Blewett's donation doubles the size of the law school's endowment to $21 million.
The $10 million gift will create an endowed chair in consumer law and protection, complete with endowed programs in the subject. It will also create a matching scholarship fund of $1.5 million. The goal of the scholarship fund is to double the gift with matching donations.
Private giving has always supported the program, said Dean Paul Kirgis, who explained the law school began with a gift of 500 law books and $2,000 from the family of William Dickson in 1911.
"We've always supplemented our resources through private giving and this will give us the resources now to continue to improve for the next 100 years," Kirgis said.
Melissa Wilson, the UM Foundation's assistant vice president of marketing and communications, said private donations are a critical part of innovation at the University of Montana and its law school.
"The state funding helps tremendously to give the university a strong foundation, but in order to innovate, try new things and go to levels of excellence, private giving and donation really makes all the difference," she said.
Blewett, she said, is dedicated to public education and he has continued to give to public schools in Great Falls, as he has become more and more successful.
"He believes in education for all, so to have that stay in his heart and to see that donation grow as his success has, it's really beautiful to see," she said.
