Whimsical Chairs

When archconservative David Koch cut the ribbon on MIT’s new David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research (he donated $100 million to help build it), the irony was hard to avoid: A climate-change denier was funding some of the world’s most cutting-edge science. That got us thinking about the other unexpected donations that have been made at local colleges:

The David H. Koch Head Coach of Men’s Basketball at MIT
> Not only is Koch one of MIT’s richest alums, he’s also one of the best players in Beaver hoops history. In February he donated $2 million to endow the school’s coaching position.

Myra and Robert Kraft and Jacob Hiatt Professor of Christian Studies at Brandeis
> Brandeis is the nation’s foremost Jewish university. The Krafts are two of the Boston Jewish community’s best-known leaders. Maybe they’re covering all their bases?

Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History at Harvard
> Today’s multiple choice, class: Did Blankfein and his cronies at Goldman Sachs (a) ruin the U.S. economy, (b) plot to take over the world, or (c) both?