For a world-class institution, Boston University’s endowment is embarrassingly low.

BU has programs and faculty rivaling their counterparts at the nation’s most prestigious schools — but its endowment is an entirely different story. Harvard, for instance, had a 2005 endowment of more than $25 billion, putting it first among universities in the nation, according to the National Association of College and Business Officers. In contrast, BU ranked 74th on the list, with an endowment of about $780 million, behind such big-name schools as Grinnel College, Berea College and Yeshiva University.

Yet with the announcement yesterday that Scott Nichols, an alumni relations official at Harvard University Law School, will be crossing the river to become BU’s new vice president for Development and Alumni Relations, there is hope that BU can boost its endowment to a level more appropriate for the fourth-largest private university in the country.

At the heart of the problem is the university’s relatively rapid rise to prominence. Former President John Silber helped transform BU from a commuter school into a distinguished research university in just a few decades; he did it through a focus on academics, courting professors like Elie Wiesel and working to recruit the best and brightest students. While BU made great strides under Silber, it failed to build a strong relationship with its alumni along the way, and the endowment has suffered accordingly.

BU students tend to look at their school as a means to an end — not a community in and of itself. However many times BU wins the Beanpot, BU students just don’t feel the school spirit that at many other universities would translate into alumni donations.

If anything, BU students feel pride in their respective schools and colleges more than in the university as a whole. Nichols must work to change this. Part of the effort should involve making alumni more visible at campus events — especially BU’s famous, albeit controversial, graduates like Howard Stern and Bill O’Reilly. Stern’s shock-jock personality may not jibe with the image President Brown has cultivated in his short time here, but he is certainly recognizable, and BU would do well to make itself known as the place where Stern got his start.

A large endowment can do wonders for a university. BU’s endowment last year was less than $800 million. Imagine what it could do with $8 billion. Progress on this front will take time, but the hiring of Scott Nichols is a good first step.