Estate of Creighton graduate donates $9.7 million to university's law school

The estate of a Creighton University School of Law alum has bestowed the largest financial gift in the 120-year-old school's history.

The $9.7 million from the estate of James Menehan, a 1963 law school graduate who died at the age of 85 last year, will be used to create scholarships and support the law school's students, faculty and other ventures according to a press release.

Josh Fershée, dean of Creighton's law school, said in the release Menehan's donation opens the door to "countless possibilities."

"The size of Mr. Menehan's gift is a testament to how much his time at Creighton's School of Law meant to him," Fershée said. "His generosity will create a legacy of support that will create numerous meaningful experiences for our law students for years to come."

Menehan's donation caps decades of annual donations he made to Creighton's law school. Menehan made his first donation to the law school in 1988 and then donated almost annually. He worked as an attorney for CUNA Mutual Group in Madison, Wisconsin.

"I am profoundly grateful to Mr. Menehan," Creighton President Rev. Daniel Hendrickson said in the release. "With this transformative gift, he will ensure that Creighton's School of Law continues to be one of the finest in the country, training a new generation of lawyers and judges in the Jesuit tradition."

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