Banking CEO John Allison has, since 1999, shelled out $28 million to 27 colleges to support the study of capitalism from a moral perspective—often stipulating that Ayn Rand's colossal novel Atlas Shrugged be required reading.

Owing his rise in finance to the Randian philosophy of self-interest and limited business regulation, the philanthropic arm of Allison's BB&T bank most recently celebrated the opening of the "Ayn Rand Reading Room" on UNC Charlotte's campus. But the strings attached to Allison's donations—which are rare in their influence on academic content—have several higher educators up in arms.

Via Charlotte Observer