A strong work ethic and a commitment to social justice and the pursuit of knowledge
Paul Casey, nephew of the founder of United Parcel Service (UPS), has been a friend of the Law School for many years. Through his generosity, four scholarships are given annually to students in business and public interest law. Beginning this year, the membership of the Casey Society of Fellows will include the scholarship graduates as well as the student members. This change will enrich the society’s meetings with the voices of experience.
Paul’s family has a tradition of philanthropy and community support. In 1985, Paul’s father, Henry J. Casey, and aunt Marguerite gave generously to create an endowed professorship that would honor the memories of their brothers Jim and George. Recognizing Henry J.’s commitment to the highest ethical business standards, the professorship is for a faculty member who brings expertise to the study of law, business, and integrity. The Henry J. Casey Professor of Law is currently Ed Brunet.
A brief history of the Caseys
The Casey family had humble beginnings. At the turn of the century, Annie and Henry Casey moved their family from the mining town of Candelaria, Nevada, to Seattle. In the summer of 1897, on news of the gold strike, Henry set out to the Klondike. On the way, a shipwreck left him stranded on an island with a handful of survivors. The group eventually was able to flag down a passing ship and return to Seattle. After several years of ill health, Henry died in 1902, leaving his sons to look for whatever work they could find to support the family.
A few years later, circumstances had improved for the Casey family. In 1907, Henry’s son Jim founded UPS. A second son, Henry J., married in 1909, moved to Portland, and went to work for Portland Gas repairing vehicles. (He didn’t think there was much of a future in the “messenger business” that interested Jim.) Four years later, Henry J. took a job at Ford Motor Company’s assembly plant. He was soon promoted to foreman and eventually ran a Ford dealership in Portland.
Paul was born to Henry J. and his wife, May, in 1928. Paul went to Rose City Grade School and Grant High School, graduating in 1947. He then attended Oregon State University to study science and history, graduating in 1951. Paul married in 1952 and moved to California, where he lived for 35 years. He worked as a manager of a lumberyard and distribution company, at a gas supply and manufacturing company, and for his father-in-law. Paul then decided to change career paths and become a teacher. He enrolled in Whittier College, earned his master’s in education and teaching credentials, and then taught science and history at Edgewood High in West Covina.
In the 1960s Paul and his family lived in Europe for a year and visited Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Greece. He retired from teaching in 1973 and moved to the beach in Corona del Mar. Now divorced, Paul has three children, Timothy, Michael, and Maureen.
Supporting the Law School
After his father set up the Henry J. Casey endowed chair, Paul forged a deeper connection with the Law School. Inspired also by Chet McCarty ’29 and Dean Jim Huffman, in 2004 he established the Paul H. Casey Scholarships. Paul is very honored by the Law School’s recognition of his philanthropy and positive influence and says that being named an honorary alumnus is “very kind.”
Stella Manabe ’92 Honored With 2007 Distinguished Graduate Award
“People matter.”
Stella Manabe’s motto is straightforward, and she embraces it fully in her personal and professional lives. As former administrator of the Affirmative Action Program of the Oregon State Bar (OSB), she has helped countless Oregon law students. The Law School honored Manabe with this year’s Distinguished Graduate Award for her contributions to Oregon’s legal profession after she was nominated by colleagues inspired by her work.
The proud mother of a 19-year-old son who is a sophomore at the University of Oregon and an 11-yearold daughter who she says is a delight, Manabe herself came to the United States when she was 23. She was the first in her family to go to college. Without the benefit of advice, she made typical educational choices for the time: she applied to only one school, did not pursue scholarships, and overloaded on credits.
Manabe relates her law school experience to her observations about professional bull rider Big Jim Perkins. “I met him working for the Bureau of Land Management in Colorado. His stories, his limp, and his stiff back—I suppose my time at law school was like four years on a bull. There were sporadic moments of ‘I get it!’ but mostly I was whipped around and I struggled to hang on for dear life.”
After she received her JD from the Law School, Manabe served as director of Lewis & Clark’s Academic Enhancement Program for nearly five years. She created a bar exam support program and an ongoing summer law camp for “at risk” middle school students. In 1998, Manabe joined the OSB, the only bar in the nation that self-assesses a fee to fund an affirmative action program. “I joined the OSB because longtime bar employee Donna Gigoux convinced me that I could work with law students from all three Oregon law schools and have an even greater impact,” says Manabe.
In addition to administering scholarships, grants, stipends, and fellowships, Manabe developed and ran programs for Opportunities for Law in Oregon (OLIO), which strives to recruit and retain ethnic minority law students. “The inspiration for OLIO came from my own law school experience—I was admitted to the Law School under its affirmative action program—and from my work as director of Lewis & Clark’s affirmative action and academic enhancement programs,” she says. According to the American Bar Association, OLIO has become a model for the nation.
Just as she inspires Oregon law students, Manabe says she finds her inspiration every day from law students and lawyers. “I get to see these folks confront seemingly insurmountable challenges. I get to observe them wrestling with options that sometimes range from bad to worse. Then there is the selfdiscovery of strengths they did not realize they had.”
Manabe’s goal has been to increase the number of lawyers contributing to the bar’s diversity, and, ultimately, its strength. “There is a tenacity and ethic in the law students and lawyers with whom I work. They have a toughness that comes from overcoming difficult experiences and working hard. As a result, they know how to solve problems and to relate to people who have problems. Harness that kind of energy and the bar cannot help but become stronger. People matter.”
