Laura Chisolm and the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations.

• Author: Hammack, David C.
• Position: Former Case Western Reserve University School of Law professor - Testimonial

I share the general admiration of Laura Chisolm's intelligence, hard work, focus, sense of perspective, and sparkling good humor. What I especially want to celebrate is the remarkable contribution she made to the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations over what is likely to be the entire quarter century of the Center's history. I worked closely with Laura for more than fifteen years at the Mandel Center. We were both proud of our work for the Center, though we felt at every stage that there was much, much more to be done, and that our best efforts had not brought about the essential changes and commitments that we sought. Laura's illness and premature death ended our efforts far too soon.

Laura first became involved with the center when we were developing its innovative Master's of Nonprofit Organizations degree ("MNO"). That a member of the law school faculty played an important role in this degree was eminently appropriate. Mort Mandel had decided to create the Mandel Center after talking with several people including John Simon of the Yale Law School. According to one story, at least, Mr. Mandel first approached the Case Western Reserve ("CWRU") Law School about the possibility of creating a nonprofit leadership program. When CWRU's schools of social work and management agreed to take the lead and sponsor the center, the law school was quickly added, and under the initial arrangements the Center's director reported to a "troika" of three deans--one each from the three schools.

From the beginning it was agreed that a course on the law of tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations would form a key part of the Masters of Nonprofit Organizations degree. The idea was not to turn nonprofit leaders into lawyers, or to pretend to enable them to make legal judgments. The goal was, rather, to equip nonprofit leaders with enough knowledge about the law to enable them to recognize most legal issues when they met them. It was also to help nonprofit leaders think clearly about policy alternatives. Laura often pointed out that a law degree could also prepare people for nonprofit leadership, and I know she was proud of the law school's record in educating nonprofit lawyers. But she also agreed strongly that education in legal thinking should clearly be included in the ideal curriculum for the nonprofit field. The nonprofit law course has been one of the MNO's distinguishing features. (1)

Laura Chisolm was exceptionally well suited to develop the nonprofit...