Young Alumni Campaign

This donor profile is from the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of Nexus.

It's hard to convey the sense of boundless enthusiasm that Rob Centa, JD 1999, exudes—whether speaking about his work as a lawyer, his pro-bono contributions to the Faculty of Law and the legal community at large, or his years as a law student in the late 1990's.

"It was an incredibly important period in my life," says Centa, a partner at Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP. "The opportunities I was given at the law school changed my life profoundly. I feel like I owe it an enormous debt that I will never be able to repay."

In fact, Centa has been making good on that debt for years, with professional and personal ties that keep him closely bound to the University of Toronto.  As an adjunct professor, he co-teaches a trial advocacy course without reimbursement. He mentors students, takes on pro-bono legal cases and acts as a counsel to the university. 

Now, as part of a group of young alumni, Centa is helping to raise contributions among former classmates and current colleagues for a new building that he believes  will fill a desperate need at the school's physical plant.

"I think that we all need to reflect on how important the law school was to each of us," Centa says. "And I think when we do that, the case for giving is self-evident."