President Andrew Hamilton announced the creation of a news scholarship in honor of former NYU Law professor and Director of NYU London Gary Slapper — who died suddenly last December — at his memorial  in late March.

Aside from working at NYU, Slapper was a columnist for the Times of London in the United Kingdom. Slapper also published multiple books on subjects including white collar crime and explorations of the English legal system, and he occasionally worked as a legal consultant on TV dramas.

The scholarship will be awarded biannually, once in the fall and once in the spring. Though Slapper was a law professor, this scholarship will not be available to law students because NYU London does not have a law program. Undergraduate majors that qualify for the scholarship include Dramatic Literature, Economics and Psychology, among others.

Associate Vice Chancellor of Global Programs Josh Taylor said the scholarship is a way for NYU to recognize Slapper and his beliefs at NYU London.

“We could think of no better way to honor the memory of Gary than to name a scholarship for him that seeks to address one of his core beliefs: that financial constraints [should] not limit the ability of students to pursue their studies at NYU London,” Taylor said.

SPS junior Darren He said the new scholarship could help students with the financial difficulties of studying at NYU London. He said that for him, living in London has been more expensive than living in New York City, and he believes that other students suffering under the financial burden of studying abroad would benefit from Slapper’s scholarship.

“It would be great if the scholarship could be distributed to a number of students instead of a single student or however it’s structured,” He said. “Otherwise I don’t see how else it could benefit the students, aside from helping [them] out financially.”

Other students, such as LS sophomore April Kim, feel positively about the scholarship because it is unique to the NYU London site. She thinks the introduction of this scholarship will benefit students and honor the London campus, which offers a lot to students.

“I think there are certain qualities and benefits [NYU London] provides that I think [are] worthwhile having a scholarship dedicated to,” Kim said. “London in itself is such a great place to spend time, and Gary Slapper was so integral to the community there. So I think it’s understandable they want to dedicate it to NYU London kids.”

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, April 3 print edition. Email Arushi Sahay at [email protected].