Cambridge Critics Contesting Stephen Hawking Professorship

An American philanthropist donated $6 million to Cambridge University to fund a professorship in cosmology in Stephen Hawking’s name, but the donation is in danger of being rejected for being “too generous.”

Critics have circulated leaflets among members of the university’s governing body, Regent House, demanding a vote on the bequest because it is a “threat to meritocracy.”

The professorship is designed to ensure its holder earns twice as much as other University professors.  Opponents of the bequest suspect it is intended to attract US academics, who are used to higher salaries than British professors.

See Paul Rodgers, US Philanthropist’s $6M for Stephen Hawking Professorship Is ‘Too Generous’, Say Cambridge Critics, Forbes, Feb. 5, 2014.