Boston University School of Law will hold the groundbreaking ceremony for the Sumner M. Redstone Building and Law Tower renovation, the centerpiece of the School of Law’s Campus Campaign, on Friday, April 19 at 2:30 pm on Alpert Mall in front of the Law Tower.

Remarks will be given by BU President Robert A. Brown, BU Law Dean Maureen A. O’Rourke, BU Law student Meghan Kelly (’15) and BU Law alumna Shari Redstone (JD ’78, LLM ’81). Following the ceremony, a reception will be held in Barristers Hall, where the building model will be available for viewing, and in Ring Lounge, which provides a view of the construction site. Refreshments will be served during the reception.

The Sumner M. Redstone Building will welcome its first class in fall 2014 and the renovated Law Tower will reopen in fall 2015.

A third construction trailer will be delivered in January 2013 and will be placed in remaining  parking spaces next to the one located on the Bay State Road Extension.  All three trailers shall remain for the duration of the project. Parking in the CAS lot will not be impacted by placement of these trailers

For more information about the project, please visit:

http://www.bu.edu/facilities/fmpprojects/academic/law-school/ or
http://www.bu.edu/law/building/project-updates.shtml

Once again, please pay attention to the construction fencing and signage directing pedestrians around the central BU campus.. Our paramount concern is safety – yours and that of the workers on the site – and we appreciate your understanding.

For more information about the project, please visit:

http://www.bu.edu/facilities/fmpprojects/academic/law-school/ or

http://www.bu.edu/law/building/project-updates.shtml

In order to better inform the Boston University community throughout the construction of the Redstone Building and the renovation of the Law Tower, the Boston University Facilities Management & Planning team will send out periodic updates of the activities taking place on site, especially those that may affect you directly.

Skanska Construction will begin removing the Gotlieb Archival Research Center entrance to Mugar Library and the stairs off the law school patio next week. A temporary construction fence will surround the patio stairs and the Mugar entrance from October 15 until the end of the fall semester. The patio doors on the 1st floor of the Law Tower will be closed, starting November 1. You will still be able to access the Law Tower through the Ring Lounge entrance or the main lobby. To minimize disruptions to classes, most of the noisiest demolition work will be conducted during periods when classes are not in session.

While there will be a narrow pathway between the Mugar fence and the School of Theology, please consider walking around the front of the School of Theology (facing Commonwealth Avenue) or along George Hart Way behind Mugar Library when you are going between the Law Tower and the GSU. As you are probably aware, the main entrance to Mugar Library is now located in the GSU Link.

09.14.2012 By Susan Seligson and Leslie Friday

Sumner M. Redstone (Hon.’94) has given $18 million to the School of Law, where he once served on the faculty. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky

President Robert A. Brown announced yesterday afternoon that media giant and former School of Law faculty member Sumner M. Redstone has given the school $18 million, a gift that will kick-start the construction of an addition to LAW’s main tower at the center of the Charles River Campus.

“On behalf of all my colleagues at Boston University, I want to express my deepest appreciation for you, Sumner, and for everything you’ve done for the School of Law,” Brown said before a packed audience of LAW faculty and students in the Metcalf Trustee Ballroom.

“The Boston University School of Law is a hub of legal scholarship and academic achievement,” said Redstone, after whom the addition will be named. “The study that takes place within its walls is enormous. It’s my hope that this beautiful building, and I must say it’s got a pretty good name, will serve students for many years to come.”

Scott Nichols, BU vice president for development and alumni relations, said the new five-story building, designed by the Cambridge architectural firm Bruner Cott, will trigger large-scale improvements at the law school.

“I feel very good about having the building named after me,” said Redstone (Hon.’94) in an earlier interview. “I feel a very close relationship with Boston University.” A 1947 graduate of Harvard Law School, he recalled with fondness his three years on the faculty of the BU school, beginning in 1982, where he taught the school’s first course in entertainment law. “It’s a great law school,” he said. Tad Jankowski (LAW’82), his teaching assistant at the time, went on to become general counsel of National Amusements, the theatrical exhibition company privately owned by Redstone and his daughter, Shari Redstone (LAW’78,’81).

Redstone’s BU connection goes beyond his teaching stint. His daughter is a graduate, and this year marked the 32nd Redstone Film Festival, an annual high-profile College of Communication event he sponsors. And in 1994, he received an honorary degree from the University.

LAW Dean Maureen O’Rourke said Sumner Redstone’s gift is “a tremendous vote of confidence in the future of legal education at Boston University School of Law.” Photo by Cydney Scott

“Mr. Redstone’s commitment to the law school began many years ago as a member of our faculty, so it is fitting that our new classroom building will bear his name,” said Maureen A. O’Rourke, dean of LAW. “At a time when legal education is facing many challenges, Mr. Redstone’s gift is a tremendous vote of confidence in the future of legal education at Boston University School of Law. Thanks to his generosity, we will now be able to build a first-rate facility to complement the superb educational experience that our students receive.”

The executive chairman of CBS and Viacom has spoken often about his commitment to excellence. His 2001 book, A Passion to Win, written with Peter Knobler, is the story of his humble beginnings as the child of Russian immigrants in Boston, and his lifelong work of building a media empire.

Redstone with plans for the five-story addition to the LAW building that will bear his name. Photo by Cydney Scott

“I was born with nothing,” said Redstone, who grew up in Boston’s West End, the Jewish and Italian neighborhood that was demolished to make way for the Government Center complex and surrounding high rises. “It was a long journey from there to where I am today, with lots of difficulties along the way.”

Redstone graduated first in his class from Boston’s famously demanding Boston Latin School. He joined the family business, a chain of drive-in movie theaters, after working as a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division and a brief stint in private practice. What began as a modest enterprise now operates about 950 screens, including Showcase Cinemas, Multiplex Cinemas, and Cinema De Lux, as well as IMAX theaters in the United States and Argentina.

After a series of film industry investments and stock sales, in 1987 Redstone acquired Viacom International, which owned MTV, Nickelodeon, and major television network CBS. The network split from Viacom in 2005, but Redstone remains chairman of both companies. In 2005 he acquired Paramount Picturesand a year later bought DreamWorks Animation. With a net worth of more than $4 billion, he attributes his success to doing something he loves and to unrelenting hard work. “I work as hard today as I ever did in my life,” said the 89-year-old Redstone, who recently earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

These days, he works mostly out of his Beverly Hills home, in the company of his four dogs and surrounded by one of the world’s largest private saltwater aquariums. “Watching the fish when you’re working is very relaxing,” he said. “It lowers the blood pressure.”

Redstone’s succinct advice to today’s law students: “If you want to succeed you have to have great character, confidence, and commitment.”

A movie-lover all his life, his all-time favorite is Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. “It happened to be one of ours,” he said of the Paramount film. “But it would still be my favorite even if it was someone else’s.”

Recently Redstone embarked on a new book project. “It’s called How to Live Forever,” he said, “which is something I intend to do.”

This article originally appeared in BU Today on 9.14.12