There have been some great cases of professors who try their hand at hedge fund investing. Remember how proud Long-Term Capital Management was of their Nobel Laureates? They didn't stop the fund from imploding. But the lure remains strong. And more than a few today--Andrew Lo of MIT comes to mind--are joining or launching funds. Roger Ibbotson Zhiwu Chen, both of Yale, founded Zebra Capital Management in 2001. The AP notes that there are lab-like benefits for students, testing theories and all. Of course, they all want to make a buck as well. LTCM is of course a cautionary tale.  

For more:
- here's the AP article

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