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Law School encourages public service
Virginia
to benefit from loan forgiveness program
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Ian
Bradshaw
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| Law
School Dean John C. Jeffries Jr. said he hopes the new programs
will foster the University’s reputation as “a leader
in the world of public service law.” |
By
Charlotte Crystal
Law
students interested in public service will be better able to pursue
that cause, thanks to two new programs at the School of Law: the
new Powell Fellowship and a revamped loan forgiveness program.
Many
students enter the Law School with a public service career in mind,
but for various reasons — not the least of which is the high
cost of paying back student loans — decide that taking a low-paying
job after graduation isn’t an option, said Law School Dean
John C. Jeffries Jr.
“U.Va.
is known as a good place to train for Wall Street law, but it’s
not as well known as a center of public interest law and public
service, a field in which we have an excellent national reputation,”
Jeffries said. “We feel that we should encourage people who
want to devote themselves to public service, knowing they will forgo
considerable remuneration to do so.”
Jeffries
organized the Powell Fellowship in collaboration with the children
of the late Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, friends of the Powell
family and Law School alumni. Beginning next spring, the fellowship
will be available to a graduating third-year student who has taken
a job in the public sector, or a former student currently serving
a judicial clerkship. The fellowship, the first one of which will
be offered each year, will provide a one-year stipend of $35,000
plus health benefits, with the expectation of renewal for a second
year.
The
second initiative, the Virginia Loan Forgiveness Program, actually
replaces two older ones — the Public Service Loan Assistance
Program, a loan deferral program for graduates working in public
service; and the Virginia Career Option Assistance Program, a loan
forgiveness program for graduates practicing law in one of Virginia’s
20 poorest counties. Full story.
U.Va.
hub for biotechnology
By
Charlotte Crystal
Construction
of a new $4.4 million research building, the Emerging Technology
Center is nearing completion at the University of Virginia Research
Park at North Fork as managers wrap up agreements to establish new
research facilities for two biotech firms and create laboratory
space for U.Va. researchers.
“The
Emerging Technology Center provides an exciting new opportunity
for technology transfer between U.Va. researchers and industry,”
said Robert E. Burnett, professor of chemistry and director of university-industry
research relations. “In addition to offering flexible laboratory
space that will help attract and house new research enterprises,
the University will benefit by an increase in student internships
and new employment opportunities for graduate students, local professionals
and faculty spouses.”
Research
park officials have signed agreements with two new tenants this
fall.
Biotage
Inc., a subsidiary of Dyax Corp., a biopharmaceutical company based
in Cambridge, Mass., has acquired 7.1 acres for $750,000 on the
North Fork site to build a 50,000-square-foot facility. The two-story
building will house the company’s worldwide headquarters, along
with research and development operations and some product assembly
and test functions. The company makes systems and consumable products
that purify drugs during the pharmaceutical discovery and clinical
trial process.
Also,
MDS Proteomics Inc., a subsidiary of MDS Inc., Canada’s largest
health and life sciences company, has signed a five-year lease for
15,000 square feet of space in the research park’s new Emerging
Technology Center.
MDS
Proteomics focuses on changing the drug discovery process by combining
biology, mass spectrometry and high-throughput supercomputing to
identify and select superior drug targets. The North Fork facility
complements other MDS Proteomics’ research operations in Toronto,
Boston and Odense, Denmark. Full
story.
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