Professor Susan Gary

Susan Gary is an Orlando J. and Marian H. Hollis Professor at the University of Oregon School of Law.

Professor Gary’s scholarly work has addressed the regulation of charities, fiduciary duties related to charities, the definition of family for inheritance purposes, donor intent related to restricted charitable gifts, and the use of mediation to resolve disputes in probate.  Her current work focuses on the evolution of the prudent investor standard and the use of environmental, social and governance factors by fiduciaries operating under that standard.

Professor Gary served as Reporter for the Drafting Committees of the Uniform Law Commission that developed the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) and the Model Protection of Charitable Assets Act.  She is currently the Reporter of the Uniform Law Commission’s Electronic Wills Drafting Committee.  She is a Commissioner on the Oregon Law Commission, an Academic Fellow and former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a Director of the ACTEC Foundation, and she served as the first faculty member trustee on the University of Oregon Board of Trustees.

Before entering academia, Professor Gary practiced for five years with Mayer, Brown & Platt in Chicago, and for one year with DeBandt, van Hecke & Lagae in Brussels. 

Areas of Expertise

Trusts and estates
Nonprofit organizations
Estate planning