When Ralph Shapiro died earlier this month, we lost a great alumnus and dear friend. Along with his wife Shirley Shapiro, Ralph has been a longtime supporter and champion of the UCLA School of Law and the Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment. 

Ralph earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UCLA in 1953 and a J.D. from UCLA Law in 1958, while Shirley earned a bachelor’s degree in education from UCLA in 1959. A leading Southern California investor and commercial real estate holder, Ralph was the chairman of Avondale Investment Partners. 

Through the Shapiro Family Charitable Foundation, they have been prolific philanthropists who have supported environmental and medical research, as well as education, arts and children’s welfare programs. They have endowed more than 20 faculty chairs and contributed to programs at UCLA School of Law, 14 of which are in the law school, including the Shirley Shapiro Chair in Environmental Law, held by Professor Ann E. Carlson.

“Ralph was hugely generous to UCLA, to the law school, and to the Emmett Institute. But for me, most importantly, he was my friend,” Carlson said. “He was one of the most interesting, engaging, larger than life people I have ever known. He had more compelling stories than seems possible about his remarkably interesting life and career.  But at the end of the day what mattered most was how much he loved and how much he was loved.  I will miss him terribly.”

The generous support of the Shapiros, and several other donors, helped propel UCLA’s environmental programs into national prominence more than a decade ago when the Emmett Institute was first named one of the top ten environmental law programs in the country. Since then, it has consistently been recognized as one of the country’s most influential environmental programs.

“The Emmett Institute simply would not be the institution it is today without Ralph's generosity and vision,” said Cara Horowitz, executive director of the Emmett Institute. “At every turn in our history, from our founding year onward, Ralph and Shirley have been there to make a difference in the lives of our students and to support advances in environmental law.”

Generations of our UCLA Law students have benefited from their wide-ranging support — in the form of emergency-loan funding but also the countless hours spent studying or relaxing in the law school’s lovely Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Courtyard. Together they received the UCLA Medal, the campus’ highest honor in April 2019.

“He cared for this place immensely, and the feeling was mutual,” added Horowitz. “We know that his legacy will live on through all those he touched at UCLA and beyond.”   

The faculty and staff of the Emmett Institute is extraordinarily grateful to the Shapiros for their incredible support, and we salute Ralph for making a difference in the lives of our students and faculty working to solve the toughest environmental problems facing Los Angeles, California, and the world.

You can read more tributes to Ralph Shapiro from the UCLA School of Law and UCLA Newsroom.