The Andrews Environmental Law Fund is an endowment established in 2014 in honor of David R. Andrews (class of ’71). The Fund has received numerous gifts from former classmates, employers, and family members in honor of David and his pioneering legacy of public service. The endowment directly supports energy and environmental student programs and policy research at Berkeley Law.
About David R. Andrews (1942-2013)
David’s career path was characterized by the expression of many talents and areas of knowledge. In high school, he was a star basketball player. After completing his undergraduate studies in Economics at UC Berkeley, he went on to Berkeley Law. While there, David edited the Law Review, established lasting friendships with his classmates and professors, and worked part-time at a department store where he met his future wife.
David went on to spend decades working in both the public sector and the private sector. His passion for environmental and public interest law were prominent aspects of his legal career. After working for five years in the private sector out of law school, David was invited to serve as senior counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency. There he earned the Outstanding Service Award. He was later appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as chief legal advisor at the State Department, under then-Secretary of State Madeline Albright, a role that David held during the negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol.
After leaving government service, David returned to the firm where he started his career, McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Emerson (now part of Morgan Lewis). There he founded and built one of California’s largest environmental and natural resources law practices, managing several dozen lawyers and counseling Fortune 500 clients. In 1991, when he took the role of Chairman at McCutchen, he became the first African-American to lead a major law firm.
In 2002, after spending 30 years as an outside council, David joined PepsiCo as a Senior VP for Government Affairs, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. He agreed to join PepsiCo due to its commitment to diversity (the company ranked 13th on Fortune magazine’s list of the best companies for minorities to work for). When he joined, David was one of only 22 minority counsel among Fortune 500 companies.
David served as a director of many boards, both for-profit institutions and non-profit organizations. He was Lead Director for Union Bank, N.A; Presiding Director of James Campbell Company; and a Board member of PG&E Corporation and Kaiser Permanente. He was also a Trustee of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law for over 13 years; a Trustee of the Asia Foundation; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague; and a Senior Fellow for Corporate Governance at the National Chamber Foundation, US Chamber of Commerce.
David was the recipient of numerous awards and citations throughout his career, including the Lifetime Achievers Awards from American Lawyer magazine (2006); the Scales of Justice Awards from Equal Justice Works (2002), and the Berkeley Law Citation Award (2005) for achievements “that have provided leadership to the profession, safeguarded the environment and contributed immeasurably to the peaceful resolution of global conflict.”
Give now or contact cleegiving@berkeley.edu to support the Andrews Environmental Law Fund.