The University of South Carolina (USC) has announced a gift of $30 million from alumnus Joseph F. Rice (BS ’76, JD ’79) to endow the university’s law school.

The gift will establish the Joseph F. Rice and Family Endowed Scholarship Fund, which will provide three-year full and partial scholarships, and the Lisa S. Rice and Ann E. Rice Ervin Advocacy Award Endowment—named for Rice’s wife and daughter, both USC alumnae—which will provide stipends for students completing a children’s law concentration. The gift also will support at least four endowed professorships as well as career and professional development opportunities and additional training, awards, and support. In recognition of the gift, the school will be renamed the Joseph F. Rice School of Law.

“An investment of this magnitude is often described as transformative, but this word does not do justice to the far-reaching impact that Joe Rice’s gift promises for the University of South Carolina,” said USC president Michael Amiridis. “[The gift] ensures the law school’s ascent as home to the highest-quality legal education and establishes a stellar trajectory for USC’s future growth and national repute.”

“My alma mater is a huge part of my family’s history and success,” said Rice. “My hope is that this worthy cause will inspire and bring out the best in generations of future lawyers, while laying the foundation they’ll need to achieve great things.”

(Photo credit: University of South Carolina)