From general admissions to PHD programs, universities are more likely to accept candidates with interesting backgrounds. How far such institutions are willing to go in this pursuit was partially answered by the University of Chicago, which accepted into their PHD program Fabrice Tourre, whom the New Yorker once referred to as "the only Wall Street banker to be found guilty of any charges having to do with the financial crisis" of 2008, Campus Reform reported.

As part of the program, Tourre will also teach an honors economics class, "Elements of Economic Analysis III."

After majoring in math at the École Centrale in Paris and earning his masters at Stanford, Tourre took a position with Goldman Sachs in 2001. In a world where many fail, Tourre rose quickly. By the time of the 2008 crisis, he was the company's vice president.

His rapid ascension, however, had its downfalls. He was found liable, along with Goldman Sachs, for defrauding investors $1 billion. Even after Sachs settled for $550 million (admitting no wrongdoing), the SEC continues to pursue Tourre for over $1 million they claim he owes in damages.

Tourre's teaching post begs the question of credibility: was his career a success comprised by questionable decisions and economic forces out of his control, or was it an epic failure?

At least his class should be interesting, and, as one of his PHD classmates opinioned, a rare look into the actual world of economics.

"People like Fabrice, who come from investment banking, are very useful in the [economics] program. As academics we tend to be on the outside, and investment banks tend to be closed. People are joking that economists develop these models, but the real world is much messier," his classmate told The Wall Street Journal.