Scholarship to Benefit Legal Studies Students

10/3/2007

David Giannotti '69

David Giannotti ’69 began his college career as a music major, but quickly found his true calling in the legal profession. He became a political science major and following graduation entered law school at Emory University in Atlanta. “I was inspired by the effect of the law and what the law is to civilization and the country. I continue to believe in it, in no small measure because I have the opportunity to have an impact on the legal system.”

After years spent working for other firms, Giannotti struck out on his own in 2003, forming David A Giannotti, A Professional Corporation in Los Angeles. He serves as a legal adviser to corporations, providing counsel on compliance, defending against enforcement actions and litigation, and performing environmental due diligence, audits and assessments, primarily on mergers and acquisitions. “I know I have an influence on protection of the environment,” he says, “because I’m retained for my opinion and advice on what companies should or can and cannot do, and my advice assures compliance for the good of the environment.”

While a student at Ithaca, Giannotti says he “had to learn to develop good study habits and self-discipline,” qualities that serve him well to this day. He says he had several favorite professors, not necessarily in his major field of study, who “imparted not just information, but knowledge and understanding—mixed with greater social awareness.” He also made friends who remain close to this day, many of them Delta Kappa fraternity brothers.

At his 30th college reunion in 1999, Giannotti says he became reacquainted with both the College and many of his former classmates, and when he was asked to serve on the Los Angeles Campaign Committee, he was flattered. He is now chair of that committee, which is hosting campaign events in the area. “It’s been a great opportunity to meet fellow alumni living in Los Angeles,” he says, “and it provides a sense of helping, which has given me some personal pleasure.”

At the public launch of the Campaign for Ithaca College: Making a World of Difference last October, Giannotti says he learned from a fraternity brother that Ithaca’s legal studies program in the Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies would be hosting a law panel on which the fraternity brother planned to participate. Giannotti went along to sit in the audience and was asked to join the panel. Several hours after the panel was scheduled to wrap up, “I was still there with four students who kept asking me questions.”

“At the time, I was hunting around for some hook in terms of making a contribution to the College,” Giannotti says. After participating on the panel, he chose to make a $100,000 commitment to establish the David A. Giannotti Endowed Scholarship, which will be awarded to junior or senior legal studies majors with demonstrated financial need. It is the first scholarship created for legal studies students. “Ithaca College was my stepping stone to a personally rewarding career and life,” Giannotti says, “and I would like to help others to achieve the same.”