Event Recognized $1 Million Donation by Panza, Maurer & Maynard, P.A.
FORT LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla. – After decades of experience providing counsel to Nova Southeastern University (NSU), South Florida attorneys Thomas F. Panza, J.D., and Susan Horovitz Maurer, J.D., have made an even more lasting mark on the university through a $1 million donation, creating an endowed scholarship fund for Shepard Broad College of Law students. In honor of their support, the college named the Panza Maurer Law Library at a dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting at the library on Monday, October 26.
Thomas (Tom) Panza founded Panza, Maurer & Maynard, P.A., in Fort Lauderdale in 1976. He has served as NSU’s outside general counsel since that time and as special assistant to five of the university’s six presidents, including current President Dr. George Hanbury.
“Tom has been at our side, providing guidance as NSU has grown from a tiny storefront with just 17 students to our current status as one of the largest not-for-profit universities in the country,” said President Hanbury. “Susan has been general counsel since 1980 – a newcomer in comparison – but she too has been instrumental in our development.”
“This generous gift will enable young men and women to attend the Shepard Broad College of Law and, thereby, help create the next generation of well-trained lawyers who can follow in Tom and Susan’s footsteps,” said Jon Garon, J.D., dean of the college of law.
In addition to their legal work at NSU, both donors are NSU alumni. Panza earned a M.S. in Criminal Justice from the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship after receiving his J.D. from Stetson University. Maurer earned her J.D. from the Shepard Broad College of Law in 1980. While she has been managing partner since 1984, Maurer originally came to the firm as a law clerk in the field of labor law. Today, in addition to the their work for NSU, Fort Lauderdale based Panza, Maurer & Maynard is one of the most successful government regulatory and administrative law firms in the Florida.
Contributors and board members of many charitable and nonprofit organizations, both Panza and Maurer feel a kinship in giving to NSU. “The DNA of NSU is in my blood. We are NSU,” said Panza, who worked with the Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine before it merged with Nova University in 1994 and helped NSU evolve to its current status.
Maurer says she feels privileged today because of her own success and from the values she learned from her parents. “My father, Roland, was a strong individual who was always about doing what you thought was right and fighting for what you thought was right,” she explained. “My philanthropy comes from what I feel is a duty to give back.”
The dedication event featured remarks by President Hanbury, Dean Garon, Panza, Maurer and Kerry Valdez, editor-in-chief, Nova Law Review.
# # #
Shepard Broad College of Law: Nova Southeastern University’s College of Law offers a cutting edge, skills-centered academic program in three-year full-time and four-year part-time divisions. With its recently redeveloped clinical programs, every NSU Law student is guaranteed a live-client experience. In-house clinical studies are supplemented by full-time field placement opportunities practicing law in Florida, across the United States, or select locations throughout the globe. To solidify student success after graduation, NSU Law pioneered a curriculum on the business of lawyering through the Global Law Leadership Initiative. NSU Law students have a myriad of curricular opportunities, including a rich, diverse curriculum, concentrations in International Law or Health Law; dual degree programs abroad in Rome, Barcelona, or Prague; dual degree programs at many of NSU’s 17 colleges; and much more. For more information, please visit: www.law.nova.edu/
About Nova Southeastern University (NSU): Located in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic research institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional degree levels. A private, not-for-profit institution with more than 24,000 students, NSU has campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, while maintaining a presence online globally. For more than 50 years, NSU has been awarding degrees in a wide range of fields, while fostering groundbreaking research and an impactful commitment to community. Classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is 1 of only 37 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification, and is also the largest private, not-for-profit institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education’s criteria as a Hispanic-serving Institution. Please visit www.nova.edu for more information.