{"id":12143,"date":"2025-08-21T19:28:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T19:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/?p=12143"},"modified":"2026-04-03T15:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:50:12","slug":"michael-gengler-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/2025\/08\/21\/michael-gengler-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawyer Honors Teachers With Gift to UF\u2019s College of Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/files\/2025\/08\/donor-michael-gengler_crop-scaled.jpg” alt=”michael gengler” icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”400px” content_max_width=”100%” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]“In my own experience, my public school teachers didn’t just get us through our classwork, they challenged us and inspired us.” \u2014 <\/span><\/strong>Michael Gengler<\/strong>[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n

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Maybe it was the things he discovered during his years as a corporate lawyer \u2013 burrowing into the finer points of right and wrong to find the building blocks of a case \u2013 that moved Michael Gengler to want to help teachers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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For most children, after all, teachers are the ones who nurture a love for learning. And it is teachers who give students confidence to challenge themselves, to enroll in college, to pursue careers.<\/p>\n

Michael has never lost sight of the role his own teachers played in giving his life direction. So when the time came for the 70-year-old to consider how best to make a lasting difference for future generations, he chose to establish a scholarship at the University of Florida to help practicing teachers earn graduate degrees.<\/p>\n

The Wisconsin lawyer\u2019s $2.2 million gift will support Alachua County teachers who enroll in graduate school to improve their teaching skills and advance their careers. His donation, made through a provision in his will, is one of the largest single contributions by an individual in the College of Education\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Michael credits his teachers, especially those from Gainesville High School, for his later Ivy League and law school successes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all support our colleges and professional schools financially, but what about our public schools? They have to serve entire communities, not just a tiny fraction of the population,\u201d he says. \u201cIn my own experience, my public school teachers didn\u2019t just get us through our classwork, they challenged us and inspired us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael graduated from Gainesville High School in 1962. He then earned degrees from Columbia University and Harvard Law School and practiced law in several cities around the country. He now lives most of the year in Madison, Wis., and spends winters in Gainesville.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could not have my career in Gainesville, but at least I can give something back,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Glenn Good, dean of UF\u2019s College of Education, described the gift as \u201cthoughtful and magnificent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Michael Gengler to honor his former teachers by helping other teachers speaks well of his character. His scholarships will have a ripple effect that will touch teachers and children for generations,\u201d he says. Teachers who receive a scholarship from the Michael T. Gengler Endowment Fund must have three or more years of classroom teaching experience and agree to teach for three more years in Alachua County, Fla., after earning their advanced degrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this program helps attract excellent teachers to the county, and then will encourage them to pursue advanced degrees and leverage that talent and education in their classroom teaching careers,\u201d Michael says. \u201cIf the program works, the real beneficiaries will be their students.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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