Key Takeaways
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$1.2 million gift supports faculty excellence: UH Law alumni Scott and Jessica Armstrong are establishing an endowed professorship in tort law to support teaching, research and scholarship.
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Honoring an influential professor: The professorship is named for longtime UH Law professor Joseph Sanders, whose teaching and mentorship helped shape Scott Armstrong’s legal career.
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Distinguished scholar named inaugural holder: Sanders, a UH Law faculty member since 1983 and nationally recognized tort law scholar, will become the professorship’s first holder this fall.
The University of Houston Law Center has received a $1.2 million philanthropic commitment that invests in the people at the heart of legal education — professors whose influence extends far beyond the classroom, shaping their students’ lives and careers.
The gift from UH Law alumni Scott and Jessica Armstrong will establish an endowed professorship in tort law named in honor of longtime professor Joseph Sanders, whose teaching and mentorship helped shape Scott Armstrong’s legal career.
“One of the greatest rewards for an educator is knowing you made a lasting difference in a student’s life, and Professor Sanders had that kind of profound impact on Scott,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Scott and Jessica’s generosity honors that legacy while providing support for Professor Sanders’ teaching and scholarship and helping ensure future law students benefit from the same excellence in teaching and mentorship that shaped Scott’s career.”
Honoring Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship
The Armstrongs’ gift establishes the Professor Joseph Sanders Endowed Professorship for Torts, providing permanent support for teaching, research and scholarship in tort law. Sanders will become the inaugural holder of the professorship this fall.
The Armstrongs, both 2014 graduates of the UH Law Center and former students of Sanders, remember him as an exceptional professor. For Scott Armstrong, that experience helped shape his professional path, sparking an interest in tort law that ultimately led to a career in personal injury litigation.
“Great professors are at the heart of a strong legal education, and Professor Sanders is one of those professors whose influence reaches far beyond the classroom,” Scott Armstrong said. “Jessica and I were both fortunate to learn from him, and for me, that experience helped form the foundation of my career. It means a great deal to us to honor his lasting impact in this way and to support exceptional faculty who will educate future generations of UH Law students.”
Sanders has been a member of the UH Law faculty since 1983 and is nationally recognized for his scholarship on tort law and the relationship between law and society. Earlier this year, he received the Law and Society Association’s Harry J. Kalven, Jr. Prize, the organization’s highest honor for lifetime achievement in law and society research.
“As professors, we hope the lessons and ideas we share in the classroom stay with our students long after they leave,” Sanders said. “To know that my teaching had such a meaningful impact on Scott, and for him and Jessica to honor me in this way, is incredibly gratifying. I’m deeply grateful that their generosity will support future generations of students and scholars at the Law Center.”
The Centennial Campaign
The gift advances the Can't Stop Houston: The Centennial Campaign, the University's comprehensive fundraising initiative to launch its second century by investing in innovation, student success and campus transformation, creating the opportunities, discoveries and experiences that will shape the University of Houston's next 100 years.
"Giving back is personal. Our alumni carry their connection to the Law Center with them throughout their lives,” said Russell T. Dunlavy, vice president for advancement and alumni at UH. “As UH enters its next century, that connection has the power to shape what comes next. This is how we build the future of UH, together.”