Gregg helped Dartmouth secure federal funding largely through earmarks -- congressional provisions that designate funding for specific projects.
Gregg's office did not return requests for comment by press time.
The Justice Department granted the College $15 million in 2000 to establish the Institute for Security Technology Studies -- now called the Institute for Security, Technology and Society -- to research cyber terrorism. Gregg was chair of the congressional subcommittee that distributed the appropriated funds. The Chicago Tribune described Gregg as "instrumental" in directing this funding to the College.
Dartmouth received $18 million per year for the continued operation of the program for the next three years, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The same congressional subcommittee awarded $1.25 million to multiple institutions, including Dartmouth, to study cyber crime, in 2000.
Dartmouth may have been awarded the grants partially because of its extensive computer capabilities, Dartmouth government professor Linda Fowler said.
Dartmouth received almost $100 million in non-shared earmarks between 1993 -- the year that Gregg started his first Senate term -- and 2003, according to a database compiled by The Chronicle. While the White House releases the total funding each state receives in earmarks, the individual congressional sponsor is not always named publicly.
The College received $286,899 as recently as 2008 from a Gregg-sponsored earmark to support "an interdisciplinary initiative on engineering and medicine."
Gregg is associated with a relatively large number of earmarks, Eric Lawrence, professor of political science at George Washington University, said, adding that it is not an "unprecedented" number.
Senators favor earmarks, including those directed to a specific institution, as opposed to broader forms of congressional action because they are recognized more easily for their efforts if their work is narrowly targeted, Lawrence explained.
Lawrence said he was not familiar with Gregg's actions, if any, to secure earmarks for Dartmouth.
Gregg's association with these earmarks should not affect his nomination for commerce secretary, Harvard University government professor Daniel Carpenter said.
"There's a huge difference between a tax problem, in which someone has done something contrary to the law, and something that people may frown upon [such as earmarking funds]," Carpenter said.
The programs funded by the earmarks will likely withstand any scrutiny, Lawrence said, adding that they were issued to a "reputable institution of higher learning."
"I don't think [being linked to earmarking funds to Dartmouth] affects Senator Gregg or the administration," Lawrence said. "I can't see how it would."
Gregg's three children, Molly Gregg '00, Sarah Gregg '02 and Joshua Gregg '06, all attended the College.
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Maria Laskaris said admission to Dartmouth is based on evidence of accomplishment.
"An individualized and holistic review process does include an awareness of other factors -- e.g. exceptional athletic or artistic ability, students whose parents attended Dartmouth -- but the decision to admit a student is based upon the tangible record of academic and extracurricular accomplishment and potential for continued success as members of the Dartmouth community," Laskaris said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
The senator received an honorary degree from the College in 2006.
The College's Development Office declined to comment for this article. Vice provost for research Martin Wybourne and executive vice president for finance and administration Adam Keller were unavailable for comment by press time.
