The story has some hits and misses.
snopes.com
go4ivy.com
But this has similarities and was reported in the news.
£1.2m gift follows 'crank call' to university
Kirsty Scott The Guardian,
Wednesday 8 March 2000
guardian.co.uk
As crank calls go it was intriguing. A wealthy American offering to make a large donation to a British university. Fearing a hoax, the person on the other end of the phone at the unnamed institution, suggested, none too politely, that he try elsewhere.
So he did. And Glasgow university is £1.2m richer thanks to the generosity of the mysterious William R Lindsay of Las Vegas.
The unusual tale emerged yesterday after Glasgow university officials revealed that their new chair in health sector economics had been funded by a donation from a very private, very wealthy American with no apparent connection to the university, or Glasgow, or even Scotland. Not only that, he had no fax, no email, and only a post office box by way of contact.
Mr Lindsay had phoned the university's development office nearly two years ago to say he was "minded" to give some money to the institution. He asked how much it would cost to fund a professorship and was told £1.2m would cover it.
Following various correspondences between Mr Lindsay and the university, and a series of checks to ensure there were no ethical implications, the Friends of Glasgow University Society in New York received a fat cheque. The university has no idea why it was chosen by Mr Lindsay.
A spokesman said Mr Lindsay had contacted another university first but their reaction was less than polite so he went to Glasgow university instead. "I think the difference was that we handled the phone call in a professional way. They just weren't as receptive to him."
The chair will be named the William R Lindsay chair in health policy and economic evaluation.
"He didn't want any publicity at all and it was as much as we could do to persuade him to let us name the chair after him," added the spokesman.
* * * |
