Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Libertarian funds evolution exhibit.

I am pleased to see that a permanent Hall of Human Origins is being funded at the Smithsonian by a private contribution from libertarian David Koch. Koch, who was the vice presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party in 1980, when the Libertarian Party was actually still libertarian, gave $30 million to fund the project. Almost $21 million will go into the David Koch Hall of Human Origins, another $5 million will endow a research chair on evolution at the Smithsonian and the rest will go to education efforts.

Koch has been generous to numerous causes. He gave $100 million to renovate a theater at Lincoln Center, was a major funder of the PBS science series Nova, gave $20 million to the American Museum of Natural History and funded a $68 million center for math, science and technology at Deerfield Academy. He gave $100 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to fund the David Koch Institute for Intergrative Cancer Research, $20 million to John's Hopkins University, $30 million to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and numerous other health related charities. Koch sits on the board of the Cato Institute and the Reason Foundation. In addition is a board member of 11 boards for hospitals or research institutions.

Bravo. It's all good stuff.

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