Most alumni show pride in their alma maters by donating a few thousand dollars and slapping a bumper sticker onto their car – but not Ratan Tata. No, this Indian industrialist guru went above and beyond the call of duty this week by donating a whopping $50 million to his alma mater, Cornell University.

To reiterate: $50,000,000 – that’s a lot of zeros there, and it is likely more scratch than any of us will ever see.

In one foul swoop, Tata saved Cornell’s endowment for the current fiscal year, which was looking bleak thanks to the recent economic downturn.

Take that, Wall Street Bailout Plan!

The New America Media reports:

“[The] gift of $50 million to his alma mater [is] to help recruit top Indian students to the campus and to support joint research projects with Indian universities in agriculture and nutrition, according to sajaforum.org.

The gift from the Tata Trusts, a group of philanthropic organizations run by Mr. Tata, chairman of the business conglomerate Tata Sons Ltd., will allow Cornell to establish and expand partnerships with Indian scientists that build on its strength in applied agriculture research.

The donation will also be used to set up a scholarship fund to bring more Indian students, who may be discouraged by Cornell's price tag, to the university.

While the money is clearly going towards a specific cause, Cornell is indebted to Tata for his monumental donation.

If only the rest of us poor folk could be so lucky...