In Addition to History

GW NEWS
[recognition]
A Few Recent
Accolades, by
the Numbers:
Ranking among The
Princeton Review’s best
schools for INTERNSHIPS
CONSECUTIVE
YEARS in the top spot
Ranking among mid-size
colleges and universities
producing PEACE CORPS
VOLUNTEERS
Number
of years
in the top
spot
Number of
Colonials in
the Peace
Corps
SINCE ITS
FOUNDING
in 1961
GW ALUMNI
of the
past
Number of ALUMNI
CURRENTLY
SERVING in the
Peace Corps around
the world
Number
of 2015-16
FULBRIGHT
SCHOLARS
and students
produced
GW FACULTY
MEMBERS
Year that U.S. SEN. J. WILLIAM
FULBRIGHT received a Bachelor
of Laws degree from GW
Sources: The Princeton Review, Peace Corps and The Chronicle of Higher Education
[law]
Claim to
FAME
David Falk, JD ’75—Michael
Jordan’s agent—establishes
entrepreneurship program at
law school
He has represented NBA superstars Juwan
Howard and Allen Iverson. In the mid-
1980s, he negotiated for Patrick Ewing the
then-highest contract in NBA history. And
he is the career-long agent to the legendary
Michael Jordan—even originating the
idea for the unprecedentedly successful Air
Jordan sneaker.
But for David Falk, failure is perhaps more
important than success.
“When you err—and you’re going to err—
you have to learn from it,” Mr. Falk, JD ’75,
told an audience at GW in January.
Mr. Falk was here to launch his Falk
Academy of Management and Entrepreneurship,
or FAME, a new initiative within
the law school’s business law program that
will emphasize experiential learning, entrepreneurship
and innovation for prospective
lawyers. The launch was hosted by the law
school’s Center for Law, Economics and
Finance.
“Unlike most benefactors who put their
name on the building and walk away, fortunately
or unfortunately I plan to be very
involved,” said Mr. Falk, who plans to teach as
part of the FAME program and will establish
an advisory board for it.
Imposing but personable, Mr. Falk shared
recollections of his storied career, dispensed
no-nonsense advice and pushed his audience
“never to settle for second best.”
One of his great career successes, he said,
was also his most memorable failure: coming
up with the idea of Air Jordans, but—failing
to anticipate that the shoes would be as wildly
successful as they were—negotiating for a
major up-front payment instead of a smaller
one with larger royalties with every sale.
“Nothing’s foolproof,” he admitted. “If
I could go back, I’d ask for a dollar and 50
percent.”
Taking questions about his most iconic
client, whose charisma has made his personal
brand into one of the most successful in
history, Mr. Falk said there would “never be
another Michael Jordan.”
“Michael wasn’t trying to be the next Dr. J.
He wasn’t trying to be the next anybody. He’s
just himself,” Mr. Falk said. “It’s a once-in-alifetime
kind of a deal. We all got a little bit
lucky.”
He advised students in the audience to
have “high aspirations.”
“You’re in a place that can help you fulfill
your goals, but you have to really want it and
go after it,” he said. “Break the walls down.”
—Ruth Steinhardt
WILLIAM ATKINS
18 / gw magazine / Spring 2016