TALLAHASSEE—As a longtime member of the Friends of 440 Workers’ Compensation Scholarship committee, Tom Conroy has helped to disburse thousands of dollars to college-bound students in financial need. In most cases, he considered the money was well-spent. In others, he felt the award had been a mistake because the recipients fell short academically. 

The experience led him to create the Thomas W. Conroy Scholarship with a $150,000 gift to the Florida State College of Law. The scholarship will be awarded to students who excel academically, says Conroy, a 1974 graduate of the law school and a partner in the Hollywood-based law firm of Conroy, Simberg, Ganon, Krevans & Abel, P.A.

“Often scholarship standards are too lenient, and some students may meet the minimal requirements for the scholarship based on financial need, but fall short of what is required of them to succeed academically,” says Conroy. “This award is for students who we are confident will become good lawyers.” 

Conroy, who practices in the area of workers’ compensation law and taught at the law school as an adjunct professor in 2003, says he also views the establishment of the scholarship an opportunity to give back to his alma mater. 

“I’ve seen what is going on at the law school—the growth and the strong faculty—and I’m very pleased at the direction in which the law school is headed,” he says. “I’ve had the opportunity to make a great career for myself as a lawyer, and I’m happy to be able to be in a position to establish this scholarship that I hope will help strengthen the school’s reputation.” 

Said Dean Don Weidner: “We are all extremely grateful that Tom has stepped forward to help us take the law school to the next level.”