Law School Receives $1.25 Million Gift to Establish Academic Chair 

June 20, 2008

Capital University Law School is the beneficiary of a $1.25 million gift commitment to establish a jointly-named academic chair — the Josiah H. Blackmore II / Shirley Marie Nault Chair in Legal Education. The gift comes from Mary Seaton Breese, in memory of Dr. Shirley Marie Nault, H’88, and their mutual friend Josiah Blackmore, through a $1 million deferred gift to the Columbus Bar Foundation and a $250,000 gift to the Law School.

“Josiah often would speak of the importance for future law students to have the privilege to experience the excellence in teaching that a chair allows and he underscored how critically important this academic position was for Capital University Law School,” said Dean Jack A. Guttenberg. “As a retired faculty member of the Ohio State University, Ms. Breese truly understands the importance of a chair within academia and we are very grateful for her generosity.”

Guttenberg said the Law School is looking to make the first appointment to the chair to be effective with the 2009-10 academic year. “Academic chairs allow us to recruit and retain the best teachers and provide excellent learning opportunities for our students. We will be looking for an outstanding teacher with exceptional credentials and experience, both in the classroom and in the community at large,” said Guttenberg.

Charles C. Warner, president of the Columbus Bar Foundation, expressed his excitement about this partnership between the law school and the foundation. “This is an innovative way of helping us fulfill our mission of increasing access to justice and promoting excellence in legal education through scholarships and grants. It's also a model for other donors interested in advancing their aims and strengthening the relationship between the bar and law schools,” said Warner.

A gifted educator and administrator at Worthington High School, Dr. Nault introduced her students to the world outside the classroom, particularly the justice system.  Through innovative mock trial activities, long before there was an organized Ohio Mock Trial Program, Dr. Nault, with the help of volunteer lawyers, brought students into direct contact with the important legal issues of the day.

In the early 1980s, Josiah and Joyce Blackmore’s daughter, Judith, was a student in Dr. Nault’s class.  Josiah became one of the very first volunteers to help Dr. Nault establish her mock trial program, and he continued to volunteer for many years, even after Judith had graduated from high school.

Dr. Nault served as a community representative on the Columbus Bar Association’s Professionalism and Ethics Committee.  She was awarded the CBA’s Liberty Bell Award in 1985 and in 1988, Capital University Law School presented her with an honorary Doctor of Literary Letters degree.

Like Dr. Nault, Josiah Blackmore had a passion for professionalism and ethics.  He had served on the Ohio Supreme Court Rules Advisory Committee and, at the time of his passing, served on the Ohio Ethics Commission. Josiah also was a recipient of the CBA’s Liberty Bell Award, as well as the Columbus Bar Foundation’s President’s Award for his lifetime commitment to the Columbus legal community.

In 1997, Dr. Nault and Ms. Breese each established major gift commitments to enable the Law School to build a court room in its new building at 303 E. Broad Street — The Shirley Marie Nault Moot Court Room.  Dr. Nault was also a charter member of the Law School’s Board of Visitors, now known as the Board of Counselors.

Upon learning of the jointly-named academic chair, Joyce Blackmore, Josiah’s widow, expressed “how wonderful it is that the chair will reflect the focus and long-term friendship of Joe and Shirley.”

Other donors who have established named-endowed funds in support of this chair are J. Miles, L’78, and Ronna Gibson; the Kunmann Family (Herbert H., H’87, and Margith C. Kunmann; Edmond J., L’85, and Eileen Kunmann); Barbara J. Lucks, L’76; and Robert J., L’83, H’05, and Missy Weiler.