South Texas College of Law Houston Alumna Sharon Schweitzer ’89 and her husband John H. Robinson recently made a generous gift to her law school alma mater to fund the Schweitzer Uprka Endowed Distinguished Professorship.
The Uprka name carries deep meaning. Schweitzer’s great-grand uncles, Joža Uprka and Franta Uprka, were celebrated Moravian artists whose sculptures, paintings, and folk-inspired works remain a cherished part of Central European cultural history. Their great-niece, Schweitzer’s mother Evelyn Laga Schweitzer, carried that legacy forward across generations and across an ocean.
For Schweitzer, naming the professorship in their honor is both a family tribute and a bridge between her Czech and Moravian roots and the global legal education she believes in deeply.
The inaugural holder of the distinguished professorship will be Professor of Law Katerina Lewinbuk, South Texas Law’s director of international programs, whose own life and career reflect a remarkably similar spirit of crossing borders with purpose. A double Fulbright award recipient, first-generation immigrant, and internationally recognized scholar, Lewinbuk regularly teaches, lectures, and presents at institutions around the world. Distinguished professorships recognize exceptional scholarship, teaching excellence, and significant contributions to the legal field.
“Distinguished professors are the heartbeat of academic excellence, and Professor Lewinbuk exemplifies everything this honor represents,” said President and Dean Rey Anaya Valencia. “South Texas Law is deeply grateful to Sharon and John for their generosity, their genuine engagement with our students, and their championship of our outstanding faculty.”
The gift will support Lewinbuk’s ongoing scholarship, research, and service, while advancing her vision of establishing and expanding a global footprint for South Texas Law. As she marks 20 years at the law school, Lewinbuk has embraced a renewed sense of purpose in helping law students broaden their perspectives through international travel and meaningful collaboration with students and faculty across the globe.
Schweitzer believes strongly in the work Lewinbuk is doing and is delighted she will be honored as the inaugural holder of the new distinguished professorship. “Professor Lewinbuk opens doors for students that most people don’t even know exist,” Schweitzer said. “My goal is to keep those doors wide open.”
“I am deeply honored and grateful to be named to this distinguished professorship,” Lewinbuk said. “Sharon Schweitzer’s generosity and steadfast commitment to our school exemplify the highest ideals of service, intentionality, and leadership. It is a privilege to collaborate with her and to witness firsthand the profound impact her dedication to global outreach has on our students. She is an inspiration and a role model to our entire community.”
Schweitzer is an internationally recognized expert on global mobility, cultural competency, and international protocol, and a South Texas Law board member, board of visitors member, and adjunct professor. She has personal and professional ties to the Czech Republic, traveling regularly with students and faculty for the annual Study Abroad program in Prague and providing cultural competency training for students and faculty preparing to travel there this summer.
As her career and philanthropy have grown together, Schweitzer has established the Uprka Laga Schweitzer Study Abroad Award for students studying abroad in Prague, endowed that scholarship so it supports students every year, funded an endowed advocacy scholarship, and made a planned gift with her husband.
Schweitzer hopes her gifts inspire others to consider what is possible. “My J.D. from South Texas Law is one of the greatest investments I ever made in myself, and so is every degree that came before it,” she said. “It is a remarkable institution with exceptional faculty and students. If my gifts encourage even one other alum to give back, then they have already multiplied.”
