Colorado Law announced today the commitment of a million-dollar gift from Nancy and John Wittemyer. The funds will enable construction of a new, state-of-the-art courtroom in the Wolf Law Building scheduled to open June 2006. This will be one of the largest private gifts made to the building project to date. The Wittemyer gift carries the Law School into the final phase of building fundraising with just $2.1m needed to complete construction. “The Wittemyer family’s tradition runs deep and wide at CU,” said Dean David Getches. “We are especially proud to have the Wittemyer name on the new courtroom. John Wittemyer’s accomplishments as a distinguished alumnus, a respected water lawyer and a successful businessman will inspire our students for generations to come.”The Wittemyer family’s commitment to the University of Colorado is longstanding. Three generations are graduates of the Law School and 17 family members have graduated from the University of Colorado system. Mr. Wittemyer served as a director of the Alumni Association for nine years and as president of that organization from 1992-93. “Nancy and I are pleased to be able to provide meaningful assistance to this outstanding institution at a time when it counts. The courtroom is the essence of the Law School and the foundation of our civilized society,” said Mr. Wittemyer. “Experience has underscored for us the integrity, importance, and excellence of the University of Colorado School of Law in the western United States.”The 250-seat Wittemyer Courtroom will be the cornerstone of the new $46 million Wolf Law Building. The 178,000 square foot building, constructed in the neo-Tuscan style that marks the architecture of the CU-Boulder campus, will have 18 classrooms and about 75 offices spread over five floors in an L-shaped structure. Born in Boulder, John Wittemyer attended the University of Colorado as a Boettcher Scholar receiving Bachelor of Science degrees in both civil engineering and finance in 1962 and a Juris Doctor degree in 1965. After clerking for the Alaska Supreme Court and serving as district attorney in Juneau, he returned to Boulder where he was a founding principal in the firm of Moses, Wittemyer, Harrison & Woodruff. In addition to his legal practice Mr. Wittemyer has served as a director of Flavorland Industries, Foxley & Company, and Foxley Cattle Company. In 1975 Mr. Wittemyer became General Counsel for the Platte River Power Authority, a position that he held until discontinuing the active practice of law in 2002. Nancy Wittemyer received her B.A. in education in 1964 from the University of Colorado at Boulder where she was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority. She has served as a director of the Women of the West Museum, the Dairy Center for the Arts, and as a member of the board of the University of Colorado Foundation. She currently serves on the CU Art Museum Advisory Board and the Music School Advisory Board. The Law School celebrated another milestone this week during the ceremonial topping-out, when the cranes lifted the building’s uppermost beam into place before a crowd of cheering alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the Law School.