<span style=""><img width="400" height="334" class="FloatRight" src="/site/files/oldnewsfiles/schmutz%20award%2009.jpg" alt="schmutz award 09">Widener Law’s prominent Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law announced today it has named third-year law student Kevin Gallagher as the inaugural recipient of its John F. Schmutz Corporate and Business Law Institute Fellowship Award.<br><br>The fellowship has been made possible through the generosity of Schmutz and his wife, Eileen Schmutz. He is a member of the law school’s Board of Overseers and is the former general counsel of the DuPont Co. <br><br>As the award recipient, Gallagher will be expected to spend about five hours a week attending and assisting with major functions of the <a href="/Academics/Institutes/InstituteofDelawareCorporateandBusinessLaw.aspx">Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law</a>, assisting in the publication of a print and online institute newsletter and assisting institute faculty with their research.<br><br>As the inaugural recipient, Gallagher will hold the fellowship through the spring 2009 semester. The next fellow will hold the honor for a full academic year, beginning in the fall 2009 semester.<br><br>“Thanks to the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Schmutz, the Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law can expand its visibility and its contribution to the national and even international discourse on corporate and business law, in which the state of Delaware plays such an important part,” said institute Director <a href="/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesDe/HamermeshLawrenceA.aspx">Lawrence A. Hamermesh</a>, the Ruby R. Vale Professor of Corporate and Business law at Widener.<br><br>Gallagher, a Widener Law merit scholar, expects to graduate in May 2009. He has accepted a position as an associate at Richards, Layton &amp; Finger beginning this fall. He currently serves as editor-in-chief of the Delaware Journal of Corporate Law and he is a Josiah Oliver Wolcott Fellow under Delaware Chief Justice Myron T. Steele. <br><br>"I'm excited to be the inaugural John F. Schmutz Corporate and Business Law Institute Fellow.  I look forward to working alongside Professor Hamermesh, and I'm eager to attend the various institute functions throughout the spring semester,” Gallagher said. “I would also like to thank Mr. Schmutz and his wife for their generosity in providing me with an additional avenue to explore the study of corporate and business law, especially here in Wilmington. "<br><br>The </span><span style=""> <a href="../../../../Academics/Institutes/InstituteofDelawareCorporateandBusinessLaw.aspx">Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law</a></span><span style=""> offers a formal concentration focused on developing a fundamental knowledge of business and corporate law. Law students enrolled in the institute program earn a business organizations law certificate upon graduation by participating in the business organizations law concentration. Graduate legal studies leading to an LL.M. in corporate law and finance are also available. <br><br></span>
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