NEW YORK, May 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Brooklyn Law School announced today the new Fagen Professorship, which was created through a major gift from Les Fagen, a longtime member of Brooklyn Law School’s adjunct faculty and a veteran trial lawyer.
Fagen established this endowed professorship as a tribute to the strength of the school’s faculty and its mission of educational access for students from all backgrounds. It also honors his late father, Herman Fagen, a Class of 1942 alumnus, who benefited from that mission as a first-generation college and law student.
“We could not be more grateful to Les Fagen for this extremely generous and meaningful gift. It recognizes that the foundation of excellence for any law school is its faculty, and that attracting and retaining gifted scholars and teachers is vital to our future and to our students’ success,” said President and Joseph Crea Dean David D. Meyer. “That the gift comes from a longtime member of our faculty, and celebrates Brooklyn Law’s distinctive mission of educational access, makes it all the more special.”
Dedicated to education, Fagan said he was inspired by the Law School’s history of making legal education accessible to children of immigrants and its commitment to a part-time program that offers night classes that permit students to work during the day. He also noted that for several decades now, unlike many other law schools, Brooklyn Law has stood out for admitting a large number of women.
“Brooklyn Law School is an important and iconic institution in the City of New York and that is part of why I decided to make this grant,” Fagen said. “In its history and to this day, the Law School has enjoyed an extraordinary faculty and admitted wonderful students who later became impressive lawyers.”
The Law School has played an integral role in the Fagen family. Herman Fagen, who was born to immigrants, grew up during the Depression, graduated City College, and then followed his two older brothers, Bernard Fagen ’30 and Israel Fagen ’31, to Brooklyn Law School, which all three attended at night. Throughout college and law school, Herman worked a series of day jobs, including as a truck driver, and an ironworker.
“Dad was always grateful to the Law School. Indeed, he wore his Brooklyn Law School ring until the end of his life,” Les Fagen said. Over the years, Herman Fagen became an important executive at the New York City Transit Authority and an expert in tort law who taught as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College. He died at the age of 93 on Jan. 28, 2010.
