Lord, that is a lot of philanthropy

[Hibush]

The Lord Corporation was just sold to Parker-Hannafin. The long dead founder of Lord had put his shares in a foundation to benefit some schools he admired. Now that the company sold, the cash goes to those schools. USC, MIT, Duke and the Cleveland Clinic each get $261 million with essentially no strings attached.

The largesse is going to some already well-situated schools, so the haves are first in line for more as usual. Lord saw these schools (when he has still alive) as doing well things that he admired. He will not benefit by seeing his standing among his plutocrat friends improve (since he is long gone), which is sometimes a motivation for picking the places with prestige so some of it will rub off on you. This seems more motivated by fundamental urge to help society in a way that connects with the donor.

The schools don't have to name a building or start a new department with the funds. It is a very unusual opportunity! Will they dedicate it to operating funds (perhaps greenwashed as financial aid)? Or launch something they've wanted to do that has not gotten traction with the usual high rolllers?

https://news.mit.edu/2019/lord-foundation-donation-1113
https://today.duke.edu/2019/11/lordfoundation

[Aster]

I am glad that the funding is going to private institutions.

That much money being donated to public universities would attract the attention of sheisty state legislators that might try to siphon it off (or worse, correspondingly reduce state funding support for public colleges).

We had a case not too long ago where the state legislature was wanting public colleges to spend their endowments because "the money wasn't being spent".

[mahagonny]

I am glad that the funding is going to private institutions.

That much money being donated to public universities would attract the attention of sheisty state legislators that might try to siphon it off (or worse, correspondingly reduce state funding support for public colleges).

We had a case not too long ago where the state legislature was wanting public colleges to spend their endowments because "the money wasn't being spent".

'Money isn't something you spend. It's just something you make more of." - Thurston Howell III