Should Yale University name a college after its chief investment officer?

Usually such naming rights are reserved for donors of large sums. And a group of alumni believe that Yale’s investment manager, has indirectly donated millions of dollars —- by earning a far smaller salary at Yale than he could command on Wall Street.

According to an article in The Yale Daily News, a group of anonymous alumni are pushing Yale to name a college after David Swensen, who as the institution’s investment manager for 23 years has helped increase its endowment from $1.3-billion to $22.5-billion.

In a full-page advertisement in the newspaper, the alumni suggest that Mr. Swensen has sacrificed a $100-million Wall Street salary to work for Yale.

But Robert Frank, author of The Wall Street Journal’s The Wealth Report, balks at giving the financial guru naming rights.

“Maybe Mr. Swensen could make ...