Bruce Vinokour, ’72, holds his law school experience in such high esteem that his wife, Stephanie, recalls it being one of the first topics he brought up when they met 27 years ago.
“It was clear to me then, as it is today, that Michigan embraces students like Bruce, who love to learn, and allows them to explore and find their own path,” she says. “Because of that, it was only natural for us to give back.”
The Vinokours recently established the Bruce A. Vinokour and Stephanie Germain Vinokour Scholarship Fund to provide students with the “same incredible underpinning of strength” that Bruce says not only opened doors for him, but gave him the confidence to walk through them without looking back.
After a clerkship with Justice Walter Rogosheske of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Bruce practiced at a small firm in Minneapolis for a year before uprooting his life in the Midwest to chase his dreams in Los Angeles.
“Armed with little more than my legal education, I landed at Creative Artists Agency, where I’ve thrived for more than 40 years,” says Bruce, a TV agent who represents writers, producers, directors, and the motion picture and television side of authors such as Robert Caro, David McCullough, Ken Follett, David Ignatius, and Scott Turow.
Having built a booming career in the entertainment industry, including putting together the TV series The Walking Dead, Bruce says he’s still putting his degree to good use, even though he hasn’t practiced law since 1974.
“It’s hard to explain the impact Michigan Law has had on my life. I can say, however, that without that education, the dream I had as a young man would not have come true.”—JP
