I was briefly a PhD student in government at one of the schools mentioned herein, and it made a big splash in the field when Blattman & Dube moved. A few notes.
1) Robinson/the institute using its resources to lure two rising stars rather than established names is par for the course (though giving them named professorships so early in their careers is unusual, I think). I doubt the Pearsons are up on how such things typically operate.
2) The number of people who are both "senior scholars studying conflict resolution" and "researchers doing data-driven, rigorous work" might be in the single digits, or an empty set. The people who come to mind are mostly in their 40s, which is mid-career.
3) I personally hope the Pearsons win their lawsuit. First, giving to a wealthy university is really bad from an effective altruism POV, and if this kind of acrimony discourages such donations, and if subsequent substitute donations create higher utility, then that's great. Second, if universities only accept gifts whose conditions they are capable of fulfilling, I would hope for less administrative bloat. Or, just as possibly, the Pearsons' winning won't have the desired effects at all, who can say.
1) Robinson/the institute using its resources to lure two rising stars rather than established names is par for the course (though giving them named professorships so early in their careers is unusual, I think). I doubt the Pearsons are up on how such things typically operate.
2) The number of people who are both "senior scholars studying conflict resolution" and "researchers doing data-driven, rigorous work" might be in the single digits, or an empty set. The people who come to mind are mostly in their 40s, which is mid-career.
3) I personally hope the Pearsons win their lawsuit. First, giving to a wealthy university is really bad from an effective altruism POV, and if this kind of acrimony discourages such donations, and if subsequent substitute donations create higher utility, then that's great. Second, if universities only accept gifts whose conditions they are capable of fulfilling, I would hope for less administrative bloat. Or, just as possibly, the Pearsons' winning won't have the desired effects at all, who can say.