$1 million endowed chair still empty
The late CEO's name will remain attached to the endowment.
Feb. 23, 2007
The Kenneth L. Lay Chair in Economics, an endowed professorship position at MU formed by a contribution from the late former Enron CEO, remains vacant.
Lay, an MU graduate, contributed $1.1 million to MU in 1999 from the sale of Enron stock to create the professorship, which has been empty since its genesis.
Lay was found guilty of six counts of conspiracy and fraud and four counts of bank fraud in May 2006 for his part in the widely publicized Enron trading scandal.
Lay died July 5, 2006, in Aspen, Colo., months before he was to be sentenced.
MU officials have said despite Lay's decidedly tainted reputation, his name will remain a part of the title, and the university will continue to seek individuals for the position.
According to Michael O'Brien, dean of the College of Arts and Science, which oversees the economics department, Lay's name cannot "simply" be dropped from the position's title.
O'Brien said once an endowment has been established, donors are the only people allowed to change its name.
Regardless of the endowment being connected with Lay, O'Brien said there has been no trouble attracting candidates for the position.
"We're always seeking the right person for the job," O'Brien said. "As you can imagine, the field of exceptional candidates for a senior position such as this is not large. We try and target just the right people."
O'Brien said serious candidates often received counteroffers from their home institution that proved too lucrative for MU to lure them away.
"Excellent candidates are hard to move for the simple reason that they are excellent and their home institutions want to retain them," O'Brien said.
Head of the economics department David Mandy declined to comment.
Missouri Students Association President Rachel Anderson said though she respects the university's difficult position in finding someone to fill the professorship, more could be done to find the right person for the job.
"The least we could do is form an exploratory committee to fill the position," Anderson said.
Anderson said with regard to the infamous name attached to the endowment, differing opinions could prove valuable.
"We don't want to draw attention to the scandal that is Ken Lay," she said.
The University of Houston has also been a beneficiary of Lay's philanthropic graces. Lay contributed funds to the university for the formation of two endowed chairs, one in political science and one in economics. The positions were recognized in 1994.
University of Houston spokesman Eric Gerber said Lay's endowed position in the university's economics department is occupied, but the political science professorship is empty.
Gerber said both positions would retain Lay's namesake.
The Beta Theta Pi fraternity, which Lay was president of while attending MU, describes Lay's life story on its Web site as the "archetypical example of a young man from small town America who made good."
Lay was born the son of a preacher in Tyrone, Mo. He graduated from Hickman High School in Columbia in 1960, graduated from MU in 1964 and received his doctorate of economics from the University of Houston in 1970. He became chief executive of the then newly formed Enron Corporation in 1986.
In 2001, while Lay was still CEO, the company filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Lay resigned as CEO in 2002 and was indicted by a federal court on 11 counts in July 2004.
Lay asked MU to return the money from the endowment in fall 2005 to contribute to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort and again the following February to help with his mounting legal debt. MU denied both requests.
Lay was found guilty on 10 of the 11 counts in May 2006, and his sentencing was scheduled for the following October. Lay died of a heart attack in July, and his charges were formally dropped October 17.
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