The Paper Trail

More Madoff Victims: Columbia Law and Brown

By Alison Go

January 22, 2009 RSS Feed Print

Add two more schools to the never-ending list of Bernie Madoff victims: Columbia Law School and Brown University.

The Columbia Spectator reports that the law school lost $3 million from its endowment to Madoff's giant Ponzi scheme. Columbia's law school maintains a separate investment fund from the rest of the school and does not generally report its earnings and losses, so it's not clear how much these losses hurt. Columbia University's general endowment fund is valued at around $7 billion.

At Brown University, meanwhile, a foundation that has donated more than $500,000 to the school's Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies has folded, thanks to Madoff-related losses. The JEHT foundation paid for "a collaboration between doctors and lawyers to conduct research and disseminate information on public policies and practices related to addiction." The research already underway is still scheduled to be completed.

Tags:
Bernard Madoff,
Brown University,
colleges,
Columbia University

Reader Comments Read all comments (3)

Add Your Thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

More to the point- Will CU divulge its total losses to Madoff. Were they making and taking profits from this fund. How long were they involved. Did they just lose the return on the investment or the principal also. They are named twice on the Madoff list, once to the Trustees investment company in the Chrysler Bldg and also to an Erica Spitzer who is not found on Columbia's website or on Google. Wikipedia really trashes CU Investment Company but no more recent info was easily found, the web link doesnt work. Its like those trusted to invest disappeared themselves at least until everyone stops asking questions.

Char of NY 6:26PM February 19, 2009

Perhaps Robert Hornsby could explain how ANYONE at the university entrusted with fiduciary duty could possibly invest institutional funds with a thinly-audited (or not audited at all) individual like Madoff.

I understand individuals getting duped with Bernie. I do not understand how it happened to institutions. It is obvious that reasonable precautions were simply abandoned to chase illusory yields.

Muser of 9:46AM January 23, 2009

Today’s Columbia Spectator story about the small donor-managed fund benefiting Columbia Law School unfortunately contained inaccurate statements that should be retracted and corrected.

Columbia Spectator is an independent student-produced newspaper. Too bad you did not bother to fact check with Columbia University itself before posting this misleading article which perpetuates factual errors.

Columbia Law School is not “different from other schools within the University” in the management of its endowment funds. Like other schools, the Law School’s funds are managed with those of the University’s merged endowment pool. This matter relates only to a small, single donor-managed fund that had been started nearly three decades ago.

We look forward to your correction of your post.

Robert Hornsby, Dir. Media Relations, Columbia Univ. of NY 8:00PM January 22, 2009

The Paper Trail

Nobody knows a college better than its student newspaper. And nobody knows campus newspapers better than this blog. We sift through thousands of student newspaper headlines every day to bring you the latest, most important, or just plain weirdest news from campuses across the country. Heard bigger news or a crazier story? Send tips to papertrail@usnews.com.

AMERICA'S BEST COLLEGES

Editor's Picks

Colleges »
Would the Student Loan Forgiveness Act Help You?
Grad Schools »
Ask 3 Critical Questions at MBA Fairs
Education »
About the Rankings Methodologies
STEM Rankings »
U.S. News Ranks Best High Schools for STEM
Slideshow »
Top 10 Public High Schools for STEM