MSU Law receives $1 million donation

Michigan State University College of Law Trustee Mike Morris and his wife, Linda, have made a $1,000,000 gift to the law college in the form of a charitable lead trust. Each year, a portion of this donation will support scholarships as well as for the Dean’s Fund for Excellence for special projects.

Morris, a 1981 MSU Law graduate, has long been an active member of the MSU Law community. In 2010, he joined the MSU Law Board of Trustees, and in 2014 he received the Honorable George N. Bashara Jr., Distinguished Alumni Award at the school’s spring commencement. That same year, he created the Morris Family Scholarship.

“Give back to those who have given to you the opportunity to be a lawyer,” Morris said to the new class of alumni as he accepted the honor. “Twenty-five years from now when you stand in front of graduates who are just as eager as you to go forward and change the world, remember to whom you owe that gratitude.”

Outside of MSU, Morris served as a chairman, president and chief executive officer of American Electric Power from 2004 to 2011. He has also held top positions at several other major utility companies.

He currently serves as a director of the boards of Alcoa, Battelle, Limited Brands, The Hartford Financial Services Groups, and Spectra Energy Corporation.

With this most recent donation, the couple joins the John J. Danhof Society, the highest donor club at MSU College of Law.

A charitable lead trust is a unique form of planned giving and is designed to provide income payments to a charitable organization for a period of years, the lives of one or more individuals, or a combination of the two; after which, trust assets are paid to either the grantor or to one or more non-charitable beneficiaries named in the trust.

 “Charitable lead trusts provide a great opportunity for an individual or family to both support MSU Law and build support for a loved one,” said Tina Kashat Casoli, director of the MSU Law Office of Advancement. “We are grateful to Mike and Linda for this generous gift in support of our students and the dean. Mike was an evening student who worked during the day to pay for law school. Mike’s vision is to support a student with financial need and much ambition, and we are grateful for this gift.”