Former Enron chief Ken Lay might be dead but that hasn't stopped the University of missouri forging ahead with plans to fill a specially-endowed professorship in his name.
The Kenneth L. Lay Chair in Economics, was created by the 1998 donation of more than $1 million in Enron stock to the University of Missouri-Columbia. And while everyone, from faculty members, alumni and even the school chancellor, have called for the money to be returned or redirected toward something like a chair in business ethics or better still, payments to Enron investors and pensioners, the university is holding firm.
The official line is that the university is abiding by the contract, but the terms can be changed under special circumstances.
The extraordinary part is not only that the university is not only continuing with its plans. Ken Lay's notoriety hasn't stopped academics from applying for the job.
Maybe the prospect of getting paid between $150,000-$200,000 might be an incentive.
Hey, you can always take the job and hold your nose.
People that love money will always be able to rationalize anything that has to do with money.