When Creating an Endowed Chair Poses a Dilemma for a College

When John L. Harvey learned in May about an endowed chair in history at Brown University honoring Hans Rothfels, he was puzzled. Mr. Rothfels, a German historian who died in 1976, was an early supporter of Hitler, Mr. Harvey says. Mr. Rothfels eventually fled Nazi Germany because of his Jewish heritage, but he is criticized for remaining an apologist for the German right wing after World War II.  Mr. Harvey, a history professor at St. Cloud State University, says a controversial scholar like Mr. Rothfels shouldn’t be honored with an endowed chair at a prestigious university and has questioned Brown officials about how they decided to establish the position.