A University of Wisconsin board of trustees member recently made a deal that will give him and a business partner ownership of Penthouse magazines later this month.

Daniel Staton, member of the University of Wisconsin Business School Center for Real Estate board of trustees, as a part of his company PET Capital Partners, LLC, purchased the equivalent of 954,545,454 shares of Penthouse International, Inc. on April 15, 2004, according to a company press release.

Staton’s partner, Marc Bell, said they own a bond that they are currently in the process of foreclosing.

Staton and his partner will eventually receive assets giving them control of the publication.

“After [it forecloses], we’ll have a publication to run,” Bell said. “[Our company] invests in things.”

According to the Center for Real Estate website, the board of trustees “advises the Center on its agenda through representation and involvement in the … membership and education committees,” and serves as a “core support group for the Center.”

There are currently 54 members on the center’s board of trustees.

UW philosophy professor Daniel Hausman said in an e-mail that, as he understands it, Staton’s purchase of Penthouse magazine reflects poor judgment.

“Even though this is a private investment, it is bound to link the university with a magazine that many people find degrading to women, and that will be harmful to the university,” Hausman said. “Furthermore, I doubt whether someone who seeks to profit from a magazine that displays women as sex objects possesses the character I would like to see in a trustee.”

However, Hausman said he would be sorry if objections to this particular purchase were to lead to the view that trustees should not take controversial or unpopular positions.

Staton did not return phone calls by press time.

Mike Mihelbergel, Center for Real Estate executive director, said he was unaware of Staton’s business deal and declined to comment.