Author Profile

Martin Morse Wooster

Martin Morse Wooster is a senior fellow at the Capital Research Center and the author of How Great Philanthropists Failed and You Can Protect Your Legacy, published by the center.

He has been an editor at the Wilson Quarterly and the American Enterprise. His books include Angry Classrooms, Vacant Minds, The Great Philanthropists and the Problem of ‘Donor Intent,’ and Great Philanthropic Mistakes. He recently wrote Games Universities Play: And How Donors Can Avoid Them, a monograph published by the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy.

Articles by Martin Morse Wooster

Feminist College Funders and the Problem of Donor Intent

Feb 26, 2021 · Martin Morse Wooster · Comments Off

Suppose you’re a donor interested in steering a college in a more sensible direction with your grants. Many questions will arise with the restrictions you put on your aid. Can you give money to a college and have any sort of say in what professors teach—or are you restricting academic freedom with your donations? Do … Continue reading “Feminist College Funders and the Problem of Donor Intent”

An unusual victory for donor intent at Trinity College

Mar 11, 2015 · Martin Morse Wooster · Comments Off

Recent developments at Trinity College with the Shelby Cullom Davis Endowment provide rare good news for supporters of donor intent. Here, after an over two-decade struggle, the endowment’s purposes have been restored to the donor’s wishes.

Unraveling America?

Sep 11, 2012 · Martin Morse Wooster · Comments Off

Charles Murray’s latest book suggests that elite colleges are tearing apart the nation’s social fabric.

We’d Be Glad to Have Your Farm!

Feb 28, 2012 · Martin Morse Wooster · Comments Off

Johns Hopkins accepted the Belward Farm, but wants to use it in ways that violate the donor’s intent.

How Colleges Rip Off Donors

Dec 4, 2011 · Martin Morse Wooster · Comments Off

Universities can use gifts inappropriately, warns an expert in philanthropic history.

Games Universities Play: And How Donors Can Avoid Them

Sep 12, 2011 · Martin Morse Wooster · Comments Off

Martin Morse Wooster shows in this report that universities often neglect the wishes of contributors.

A Weak Defense of an Obsolete Idea

Apr 6, 2010 · Martin Morse Wooster · Comments Off

A new book defending affirmative action fails on many levels.

Did You Know? New College to Launch in Wake Forest This Fall Jun 23, 2022
Thales College, a new undergraduate institution launching this fall in Wake Forest, N.C., is eagerly preparing to open its doors to its inaugural class. Thales College is a unique institution with a fresh vision for higher ed: rigorous academics and effective professional preparation joined with a commitment to affordability not often found among other higher … Continue reading “Did You Know? New College to Launch in Wake Forest This Fall”
The Limits of Expertise Jun 22, 2022
As a professor devoted to his college’s “pre-disciplinary” core curriculum, I was hooked by David Epstein’s title, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The book is chock-full of anecdotes and evidence that people with breadth or range—indeed, amateurs in the true sense of the word—can contribute immensely to enterprises in environments that seem, … Continue reading “The Limits of Expertise”
Birds of Paradise: The Moral Poverty of Faculty Freedom Fighters Jun 17, 2022
Carl Dobsky’s brilliant, fiery painting “Birds of Paradise” has been the focus of attention at his recent exhibitions, because it accurately and effectively captures the zeitgeist of contemporary American life. The painting is set in the backyard of a bourgeois Los Angeles home, where a laughing group of partying Angelinos drink red wine from large … Continue reading “Birds of Paradise: The Moral Poverty of Faculty Freedom Fighters”

Remembering Title IX Abuses Jun 24, 2022
Recently, Title IX has been in the news because of the Biden administration’s promised (and, as of yesterday, delivered) rejection of much-needed Trump-era reforms. As we are approaching the 50th anniversary of the statute, introduced as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, it is worth revisiting the history of Title IX and reviewing its … Continue reading “Remembering Title IX Abuses”
Are UNC System Chancellors Overpaid? Jun 20, 2022
Chancellor salaries at public universities across the country are far higher than those for other public executives, out of step with faculty compensation, and unrelated to student success and university performance. A new program at UNC may help to address some of these concerns. In an article in Forbes, the economic historian Richard Vedder states … Continue reading “Are UNC System Chancellors Overpaid?”
Did You Know? Post-Tenure Review is Increasingly Common for University Faculty Jun 16, 2022
58 percent of postsecondary educational institutions now employ a post-tenure review process. This is up from 46 percent in 2000. Tenure traditionally means that a professor has earned guaranteed job-security that can be revoked only in cases of misconduct or academic dishonesty. Post-tenure review, typically conducted by a committee of one’s fellow faculty members, evaluates … Continue reading “Did You Know? Post-Tenure Review is Increasingly Common for University Faculty”

Remembering Title IX Abuses Jun 24, 2022
Recently, Title IX has been in the news because of the Biden administration’s promised (and, as of yesterday, delivered) rejection of much-needed Trump-era reforms. As we are approaching the 50th anniversary of the statute, introduced as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, it is worth revisiting the history of Title IX and reviewing its … Continue reading “Remembering Title IX Abuses”
Did You Know? New College to Launch in Wake Forest This Fall Jun 23, 2022
Thales College, a new undergraduate institution launching this fall in Wake Forest, N.C., is eagerly preparing to open its doors to its inaugural class. Thales College is a unique institution with a fresh vision for higher ed: rigorous academics and effective professional preparation joined with a commitment to affordability not often found among other higher … Continue reading “Did You Know? New College to Launch in Wake Forest This Fall”
The Limits of Expertise Jun 22, 2022
As a professor devoted to his college’s “pre-disciplinary” core curriculum, I was hooked by David Epstein’s title, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The book is chock-full of anecdotes and evidence that people with breadth or range—indeed, amateurs in the true sense of the word—can contribute immensely to enterprises in environments that seem, … Continue reading “The Limits of Expertise”