BSOS Unveils Feller Scholars Program

The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and MLAW Programs celebrate the establishment of the Joel and Kim Feller MLAW Endowed Scholarship. Thanks to the continued generosity of Joel J. Feller (GVPT ’90) and Kim A. Feller (’89), this fund will support merit-based scholarships for qualified undergraduate students in MLAW.

In December of 2017, Joel and Kim Feller donated $500,000 to establish this scholarship; future recipients will be known as Feller Scholars. "On behalf of MLAW, I am honored to receive this gift. The scholarship will provide our best students with a huge opportunity to become the solution to some of society’s most challenging legal problems. We look forward to seeing what they achieve," said MLAW Director Robert Koulish.

Joel Feller, left, and Kim Feller, right, with their son Cory.

MLAW Programs is a state-of-the-art collaboration between the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, driven by MPower. It affords students unparalleled opportunities to evaluate and interact with a wide range of diverse and intellectually stimulating legal communities. MLAW offers undergraduate students unique opportunities to learn from law professors and practitioners, and to visit points of legal and policy interest in Washington, D.C., Annapolis and Baltimore.

The Feller family is well-known throughout the legal community, as Joel Feller is a founding partner at Ross Feller Casey, LLP in Philadelphia, and is a nationally renowned victims’ rights advocate.

Joel and Kim Feller are dedicated supporters of BSOS and the University of Maryland, having previously donated $500,000 to establish a professorship aimed at helping the College recruit or retain faculty in academic areas of need. This Dean’s-level professorship is the first of its kind in BSOS. Dr. Jack Blanchard, chair of the Department of Psychology and 16-year University of Maryland faculty member, was awarded the first Joel and Kim Feller Professorship. They also donated an additional $500,000 to establish the Feller Lecture within the Department of Government and Politics, the department's annual signature event.

The Fellers also previously donated $100,000 to support a research professor in the Department of Government and Politics. Dr. Koulish, a faculty member in the Department of Government and Politics, currently holds the Joel J. Feller research professorship.

From left to right: Dr. Robert Koulish, Joel J. Feller Research Professor; Joel Feller '90, BSOS Alumnus of the Year; Dr. Jack Blanchard, Joel and Kim Feller Professor; Dean Gregory Ball.

Joel Feller is a member of the University of Maryland Board of Trustees, and in 2016 was named BSOS Alumnus of the Year.

“We in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences are deeply grateful to Joel and Kim Feller for their continued leadership in support of our college and the university,” said Dean Gregory Ball.

Published on Fri, Jan 19, 2018 - 11:55AM