{"id":3874,"date":"2024-08-16T19:44:34","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T19:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=3874"},"modified":"2024-09-06T19:39:54","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T19:39:54","slug":"siu-simmons-law-school-unveils-new-name-honors-donor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=3874","title":{"rendered":"SIU Simmons Law School unveils new name, honors donor"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_3877\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3877\" style=\"width: 1500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3877\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_5765-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_5765-copy.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_5765-copy-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_5765-copy-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_5765-copy-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3877\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Simmons (middle) cuts the ribbon Friday, Aug. 16, at the SIU Simmons Law School.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Support from $10M donation will help students, faculty<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Jeff Wilson<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CARBONDALE \u2013 SIU Simmons Law School has a nice ring to it. Now it has a fresh look to match.<\/p>\n<p>In February 2024, John and Jayne Simmons announced a $10 million gift to the law school, enhancing and expanding its educational offerings to students and opportunities to faculty. In honor of the donation, the SIU Board of Trustees voted to name the SIU Simmons Law School. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Aug. 16, the new name and signage were unveiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis mission is aligned with my personal and professional value system,\u201d said John Simmons, a member of the SIU Board of Trustees and founder of the Simmons Hanly Conroy law firm. \u201cWe are proud of this school and what it stands for. I owe a lot of my success to SIU and what it has given to my family. It has sent me on my way to success, expanded my world, my horizons, my view on life and my role in supporting my community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This historic gift \u2013 the largest SIU Carbondale has ever received \u2013 further cements Simmons\u2019 legacy at SIU, which includes a $10.2 million commitment to the Simmons Cancer Institute at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield. His most recent contribution comes as another major step in the Imagine SIU 2030 fundraising campaign, which has raised more than $340 million toward its $500 million goal.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IzxTuDZgziU?si=fPqMwelghQdkyvDT\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis gift will allow all of our students and faculty to continue to imagine,\u201d Chancellor Austin Lane said. \u201cYou can think about all of the things you\u2019re going to get in this building that are going to take you from Southern Illinois into the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Simmons, a native and resident of Alton, is an SIUE graduate and chairperson and founder of Simmons Hanly Conroy law firm. His support will help provide more access, services, and opportunities to students seeking educational opportunities at SIU Simmons Law School.<\/p>\n<p>The law school is the alma mater of more than 180 local, state, and federal judges. It also has alumni practicing law in 48 states and more than 10 countries. It also features legal clinics that serve members of underrepresented communities and offer students real-world experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLending one\u2019s name, one\u2019s reputation to a school is a profound gesture,\u201d said SIU Simmons Law School Acting Dean Angela Upchurch. \u201cIt intertwines their identity with the ongoing story and mission of that institution, and it creates an indelible impact on its faculty, students and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Simmons has served two stints on the SIU Board of Trustees, first from 2004 to 2015 and was appointed again in 2019 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. He has previously functioned as the board\u2019s secretary and chair. He earned his law degree from Southern Methodist University and previously served in the U.S. Army as a combat engineer.<\/p>\n<p>In 1999, he founded Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the nation\u2019s largest plaintiff\u2019s law firms. The firm has dedicated the past 25 years to representing workers and families impacted by mesothelioma, a fatal and preventable asbestos-related cancer. Under his leadership, the firm expanded to new practice areas and now employs more than 250 people, including more than 80 attorneys, in offices across the country. Most recently, the firm successfully helped lead the national effort to hold manufacturers and distributors of prescription opiates accountable for the opioid epidemic. Firm employees have donated more than $1 million to local charities through the Simmons Employee Foundation and more than $20 million to cancer research nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Simmons Hanly Conroy has long been involved with SIU\u2019s law school, providing internships, and employing its graduates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJohn is motivated by his core belief of giving back to the community to help improve and create a better life for others,\u201d said SIU Board of Trustees Chair J. Phil Gilbert. \u201cThe contribution and investment in this law school will change lives by providing educational opportunities to anyone desiring a legal education \u2026 and will develop future leaders that make this world a better place in which to live.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Support from $10M donation will help students, faculty By Jeff Wilson CARBONDALE \u2013 SIU Simmons Law School has a nice ring to it. Now it has a fresh look to match. In February 2024, John and Jayne Simmons announced a $10 million gift to the law school, enhancing and expanding its educational offerings to students &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=3874\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">SIU Simmons Law School unveils new name, honors donor<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donor-stories","category-higher-education","category-illinois-higher-education","category-siu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3874"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3907,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3874\/revisions\/3907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}