Secret Donor Mails $180K Cash for Needy Students to New York College

Upon his return to teaching in-person classes, Vinod Menon, a physics professor for City College of New York, searched through office mail and discovered a small cardboard box, according to the New York Times.

The heavy box was addressed to “Chairman, Physics Department,” which is his own title, the paper reported Tuesday.

The package was apparently postmarked from November 2020, and had remained there for more than nine months.

Dr. Menon specializes in nano and microphotonics, and what was inside the box gave him a feeling of excitement.

“It was full of $50 and $100 bills bundled in paper bands, totaling $180,000,” the Times report said.

A letter to Dr. Menon said the money was a donation to assist needy physics and math students attending City College.

Per the Times:

The letter explained the donor’s motivations. “Assuming that you are bit curious as to why I am doing this, the reason is straightforward,” wrote the donor, who said he or she “long ago” took advantage of the “excellent educational opportunity” of attending both Stuyvesant High School and earning a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics at City College, which helped lead to “a long, productive, immensely rewarding” scientific career.

There was no signature, and the title on the return address, Kyle Paisley, was unlisted as a graduate in the school’s records.

According to Dr. Menon, the donation’s value was not so much about the amount but rather “a testament to what the physics department has been providing all these years.”

He added since tuition at the college was $7,500, the gift would help more than at an expensive private school in regard to scholarships.

Another interesting aspect was that the donation was earmarked for the physics department, which boasts a distinguished history.

“In 1921, Albert Einstein gave one of his earliest U.S. lectures there, and the department has long punched above its weight, with three of its alumni becoming Nobel laureates in physics,” according to the Times.

Thanks to clues on the bands around the cash, federal agents apparently determined it was withdrawn from multiple banks in Maryland over the past few years and had no connection to criminal activity.

Following a month-long investigation, authorities informed college officials the donor’s identification was untraceable, and CUNY’s Board of Trustees later voted to accept the donation.

Dr. Menon explained the funds would have a big impact on the department that would use the money to fund two full tuition scholarships every year for over a decade.

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