The estate of Frederick W. Miller, the former publisher and
president of The Capital Times, gave more than $7 million to the
University of Wisconsin Law School, officials announced
Tuesday.

The gift is the largest the school has ever received.

“This is a wonderful gift and will permit us to make
significant progress in realizing the goals of our strategic
plan,” Kenneth Davis Jr., dean of the Law School, said in a
press release. “Fred Miller was universally admired. That he
would choose to recognize and support the Law School’s
mission in this way is truly moving.”

The donation will go toward creating an endowed deanship, UW
spokesman Dennis Chaptman said.

“It provides a long-term funding for [the]
deanship,” he said.

Chaptman said the donation will reroute costs that have until
now been used to pay the deanship position. It has not yet been
specified where those costs will be directed.

Chaptman also said the donation will allow the university to
raise the deanship’s salary in the future to attract
high-quality applicants to fill position vacancies.

Miller died last December at the age of 91. He graduated from
the university in 1934 and from the Law School in 1936.

“This gift is a reflection of Fred Miller’s
dedication to the school and his wish that it continues to be a
vibrant teacher of future generations of attorneys,” Davis
said in the statement. “We are incredibly grateful for his
vision, his generosity and his unbending attention to academic
achievement.”

The university has been aware of a possible donation from Miller
for a while, Chaptman said, adding that the announcement today was
not a surprise.

Davis’ post will be known as the Frederick W. Miller Dean
of the Law School, the release stated.