History of the Fellowship
In 1974, Francesca Turner founded the Tony Patiño Fellowship in memory of her son, Antenor Patiño, Jr. The Fellowship program was established in accordance with Tony’s philosophy and often-expressed wish and intention to help his fellow students.
This Fellowship program provides merit awards of $17,500 per year to qualifying law students at UC College of the Law San Francisco, University of Chicago Law School, and Columbia Law School. A recipient’s Fellowship award is renewable for two subsequent consecutive years if certain requirements are met. A Fellow-Elect will be known as a “Tony Patiño Fellow” upon receipt of two renewals of the Fellowship; bestowal of a Juris Doctor degree by the Fellow-Elect’s law school; and award by the Renewal Committee of the title “Tony Patiño Fellow” at the end of the third year.
Identifying People of "Character and Capability"
The Fellowship seeks to identify law students who will become leaders – in the words of Professor Jerome Hall, people of character and capability – and who will use their law degrees to serve others. Since 1974, the Fellowship program has designated more than 200 graduates of Hastings, Chicago and Columbia as Fellows. Currently, there are 21 Fellows-Elect at these law schools.
The Fellowship was established at UC College of the Law San Francisco in 1974, the law school that Tony Patiño attended at the time of his death. To expand the Fellowship into a national program, the Fellowship was subsequently established at the University of Chicago Law School in 1983 and at the Columbia University School of Law in 1984.
The Fellowship Today
Today there are more than 200 Tony Patiño Fellows working, leading, and serving in their communities worldwide. The Fellowship’s Board of Directors remains committed to Tony’s wish and Francesca’s vision. Led by Francesca’s long-time confidante and protégé, Chairwoman Emeritus Martha Belcher, and board chair Steve Van Liere, the board has expanded to include members representing all three beneficiary law schools. The goals the board is working to achieve include:
- Strengthening the Fellowship network
- Providing more mentoring and career assistance to the Fellows-Elect
- Raising the Fellowship’s profile in the legal community
Working together, the Fellowship community continues to encourage its members to achieve the aspiration engraved on the Fellowship statuette, to “be a leader of mankind in all that is honorable, just and compassionate.”