A Harvard Law School (HLS) alum has given $5 million to endow 20 fellowships that will fund a program to help new graduates pursue public service careers in the federal government.

The program, financed by Samuel J. Heyman, HLS Class of 1963, will help fellows work off their loans and give each an honorarium. It will encourage these graduates to make a three-year commitment to government service.

Heyman, chair and CEO of GAF Corporation, a maker of commercial roofing materials, made the gift out of a concern for the decrease in the number of law graduates going to Washington. Before entering the private sector, the now-billionaire Heyman began his career as a lawyer for the United States Justice Department.

"Among our nation's most critical issues today is our increasing inability to attract a sufficient number of the brightest and the best to government service," he said in an HLS news release.

The National Association for Law Placement, which for 25 years has been tracking the job choices of new law graduates nationwide, said that only 13.3 percent of graduates entered the government in 1998, down from 18.5 percent in 1975, according to a Washington Post article on Nov. 10.

Heyman fellowships will be awarded based on "academic performance, promise, and personal financial requirements," according to the release.

"I think [the program is] a great idea," said Michael Minahan, 22, a first-year law student from Worcester who cited outstanding student loans as a potential barrier from entering the government. "I was surprised something like that didn't already exist."

Margo Schlanger, an assistant HLS professor who is on the committee to administer the fellowships, said another aspect of the program will set up conferences to allow Heyman fellows and top government officials to share their experiences.