Wife of UB Law School Alumnus Makes Bequest Commitment

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo School of Law has received one of the largest bequest commitments in the school's history. When fulfilled, the bequest will endow a scholarship fund and provide support for the school's moot court program.

The commitment was made by Mary Foster of Canandaigua in honor of her deceased husband, William Powell Foster, a 1933 graduate of the law school. The commitment comes in addition to charitable remainder trusts established in previous years by the Fosters.

The gift to UB will create the William Powell Foster and Mary Karpiak Foster Endowment Fund, which will generate two scholarships a year. Recipients will be designated Foster Scholars. Mrs. Foster has given the school a cash gift to allow two scholarships to be awarded in 1996, as well as two in 1997. Excess funds generated by the endowment will, at the discretion of the law-school dean, be used to support the moot court program.

Through her estate plan, Mrs. Foster has designated that 75 percent of the proceeds from the sale of Fostoria, her home in Canandaigua, which was valued at approximately $1 million in 1992, will be left to the UB law school.

"Bill and I talked about this a lot before he died," said Mrs. Foster, who worked as a public-health educator with the Monroe County Health Department. "We both felt we got the benefits of public and private education, and we had people who had helped us along the way," she added. "We each worked in fields that helped people and we wanted to find another way to guide and support others."

A lawyer and businessman, Foster worked in hotel management and real-estate development, eventually becoming counsel to the Monroe County legal advisor for 14 years before retiring in 1973. He died in 1992.

"We are honored that Mrs. Foster has chosen to support the law school in memory of her husband," said Barry Boyer, dean of the UB School of Law. "Our students will be getting vital financial assistance, and maybe someday they will look back on the Foster¹s influence and make similar selfless gifts."