Building the New Marquette University Law School

Why I’m a Builder

A conversation with Michael Cramer, Law ’78

Michael Cramer has come full circle: back in school nearly 30 years after he graduated.

But this time he is on the other side of the lectern – as a full-time clinical assistant professor at the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Sports Management at New York University.
“I am teaching what I know and what I have done,” he says. “When my students and I discuss some of my real-world experiences, we can talk not only about cases, but about outcomes, ethics, and both what was done and how it was done.”

Cramer’s career has had a business focus, including acting as an executive at several private and public companies owned and operated by the private investment firm, C. Dean Metropoulos & Co., of which he was a founding partner. He also was president and chief operating officer of the holding company of the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers and served as president of the teams as well.

This is not the way Cramer started his career. He began in the legal profession in Milwaukee, working for several years with Steve Enich, Law ’49. Then he opened a practice with several law school friends in the late 1980s.

Although he thereafter entered the corporate world, Cramer remains close to his classmates and alma mater. He is on the advisory board of the Law School’s National Sports Law Institute, has served on his class reunion committee, and currently serves on the Law School’s advisory board.

Cramer is impressed with recent developments at the Law School. “It’s neat to see the growth of the school, the quality of people coming in, and the strength of the programs,” he explains.

He is also enthusiastic about Eckstein Hall. “I’ve seen the plans and I’m delighted with the prominence of the building, the inside design, and resources it will provide,” he says. “The past ten years have been a period of remarkable growth and development of the Law School. It is a tremendous asset to the Milwaukee community and the entire state of Wisconsin.”

“I owe Marquette Law School a tremendous debt,” Cramer observes. “I received a great education which, in turn, provided many opportunities to me. But I am excited about the future even more because of the promise it offers to future generations of legal professionals.”