At least she didn’t claim to be a Nobel prize winner. Via Slashdot:
“The 233-year old American Academy of Arts and Sciences has announced that its longtime President and Chief Executive, Leslie Cohen Berlowitz, has agreed to resign effective at the end of this month following an investigation of charges of resume embellishment and other misconduct.
Berlowitz falsely claimed to have received a doctorate from New York University, and has also been criticized for her behavior towards scholars and subordinates, and for her compensation package ($598,000 for 2012) relative to the size of the non-profit organization she led.
The Academy, based in Cambridge MA, was founded during the American Revolutionary War and is one of the most prestigious honorary societies for the American intellectual elite, extending across math and science, arts and letters, business, law and public affairs. The active membership rolls contain people you’ve heard of; the incoming class list provides a more manageable glimpse of the society’s breadth.”
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is big on pushing this pet project: “the Alternative Energy Future“
“….her compensation package ($598,000 for 2012) relative to the size of the non-profit organization she led.”
Non-profit? Ha!
Non-profit = insider-plunder.
I think that at least part of the reason that such people are so aggressive about their opinions is that they know, deep inside, that they are overpaid frauds. A guilty conscience makes for powerful defensiveness.
I volunteer my time to charitable organisations but never contribute a penny to them, because bread head types like Berlowitz are all too common.
Pointman
The fault lies with the board; they obviously failed to vet candidates properly. For a half-million (USD) compensation package, a fair amount of due diligence is expected. Verifying a PhD degree only takes one phone call. One wonders what else they didn’t check.
[Removed as requested – see Stephen Rasey’s comment below]
Two decades in various public and private businesses have taught me that every organization is the expression of the personality of the one at the top. So this episode actually explains why so many thought it appropriate to label themselves Nobel Laureates even if they obviously aren’t.
The first stated goal of that initiative is:
“To establish a standing Academy forum on energy and social science to increase the impact that social science research can have on energy policy development”.
We can hope it gets help to “resign” with its former president, as it would seem to welcome social science methods to the study of climate, and of course central planning for the entire economy.
Please delete my 2:11. that is the board for the American Association for the Advancement of Science
The shame, the shame.
Nothing left for her but to go into politics.
Perhaps she can ask Nuccitelli for a big oil job… 🙂
She will have a cabinet position for our chief Executive Obama somewhere. It depends if she resigned due to her conscience or she is fleeing to avoid some scandals. People with conscience are not welcome in our current White House.
well………I guess it’s non-profit when you spend all the profit
I am the only one to beleive that these NGO’s, (recorded as Charities for the most part), are no more than interconnected pressure groups being paid for by the tax-paying-public, who then go on to lobby that tax-payers’ Government on behalf of themselves?
Maybe some credible Journalist would like to take this up and create a node-connection diagram?
To me, a lot of these people seem to be placed in positions beyond their ability.
another crooked liberal
Also the head of the IPCC’s official biography is either misleading or an outright lie, depending on how you read it
http://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2013/07/18/the-ipcc-chairmans-fake-second-phd/
Mike McMillan says:
July 27, 2013 at 2:16 pm
“The shame, the shame.
Nothing left for her but to go into politics.”
You stole my thought! Is it too late for her to throw her over-sized hat into the ring for NYC mayor? The scandal ridden seem to rise to the top like scum on boiled offal.
This highlights an important question:
If all the NGOs were abolished, would anyone operating in the real world notice?
The only thing I can think of is that this might lower our tax bills.
Does anyone know of a genuinely useful NGO?
From Merriam Webster:
embellish
em·bel·lish
transitive verb \im-ˈbe-lish\
Definition of EMBELLISH
1
: to make beautiful with ornamentation : decorate
2
: to heighten the attractiveness of by adding decorative or fanciful details : enhance
— em·bel·lish·er noun
Examples of EMBELLISH
a book embellished with colorful illustrations
He embellished his speech with a few quotations.
——————————————————–
She didn’t “embellish” her CV, she lied about it. Then, her employers lied about what she did.
Seems like she was a good fit in that organisation’s culture.
johanna says:
July 27, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Oh, Johanna, there you go again using actual English. How judgmental. No doubt the woman has been traumatized by the actions of fuzzy-duddies at the AAAS. Think of the blow to her self-esteem. How will she ever recover? /sarc
O/T
Anthony, keep an eye on this for mid September Arctic sea ice minimum, whatever it turns out to be. I have checked each year since 1958 and it looks like the coldest so far for the “Daily mean temperature and climate north of the 80th northern parallel, as a function of the day of year.”
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/coldest-summer-on-record-in-the-arctic-fading-fast/
http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/meant80n.uk.php
President and Chief Executive, Leslie Cohen Berlowitz, has agreed to resign effective at the end of this month following an investigation of charges of resume embellishment and other misconduct.
She ’embellished’ her resume? Didn’t Michael Mann conspire with Phil Jones to ’embellish’ Jones’ CV? It’s right in the Climategate #1 emails. Did either Mann or Jones get disciplined? Not a chance.
==============================
Pointman says:
I volunteer my time to charitable organisations but never contribute a penny to them, because bread head types like Berlowitz are all too common.
Same here. I volunteered at our local Humane Society for three years after I retired. Then found out the CEO was making almost a half-mil out of a budget of 2 million. They never got another dime from me.
These charities have Boards that shirk their duties. They should be working toward the benefit of homeless animals. But a new CEO gets in, and instantly begins to schmooze the Board. Grossly overpaid compensation results. But the general public knows little about it. These Boards should meet only on the public record. But of course that is wishful thinking. They flogged everyone, especially the ≈900 volunteers, to give money all the time. After their fat salaries, not very much of it goes toward animal welfare.
Since I was in my teens there has been an organization of retired CEO’s and executives: SCORE [service corps of retired executives, IIRC]. Many of them would gladly work for a nominal $1 a year, just to be in charge and doing something again. You can only play so much golf.
But like so much that has gone wrong in society, people running charities have learned to game the system. The Red Cross is a typical moneygrubber’s feast. Do a search for ‘Red Cross, CEO compensation’. Sheesh. It’s outrageous. And with a charity there is very little oversight. Not much you can do. Except maybe compare their compensation with the CEO of the Salvation Army.
Mods: It looks like this went into your trash bin. If not then please hold:
If the IRS would follow the original 1954 501(c)(4) law which states that tax exemptions were to apply to “Civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated EXCLUSIVELY for the promotion of social welfare” (caps mine), a ton of “charities” wouldn’t qualify. However the IRS changed this in 1959 to: ”To be operated exclusively to promote social welfare, an organization must operate PRIMARILY to further the common good and general welfare…” (caps mine). The change requires an IRS individuals interpretation of “primarily”.
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/05/15/the-real-irs-scandal-reinterpreting-the-law/
If this administration had any backbone/integrity/etc. it would force the IRS to follow the LAW as passed by congress in 1954. However there would be a lot of politico’s upset on both sides so that not going to happen.
Gary Pearse says:
July 27, 2013 at 3:07 pm
Mike McMillan says:
July 27, 2013 at 2:16 pm
“The shame, the shame.
Nothing left for her but to go into politics.”
You stole my thought! Is it too late for her to throw her over-sized hat into the ring for NYC mayor? The scandal ridden seem to rise to the top like scum on boiled offal.
In order to rund for mayor of NYC, wouldn’t she have to adopt a nom de plume of Carlotta Danger and send out Weinerish pix of herself?
@dbstealey
Which is why I stopped giving to United Way after I found out what the president was making (and the other scandals he was involved in). They said they “fixed” everything but it’s still the same old same old.
So what exactly are her credentials? Associates deegree from the Bill Nye the Science Guy school of sciencology?
“She didn’t “embellish” her CV, she lied about it. Then, her employers lied about what she did.
Seems like she was a good fit in that organisation’s culture.”
Like in the world of politics, where corruption is labelled as donations?
A non-profit needn’t pay taxes and can keep that revenue for salaries and benefits. And it is a scam in so many cases now.
But I couldn’t resist this statement: is working to develop a solid understanding of the legal, social, and economic factors that can either inhibit or facilitate transformative change in the U.S. energy system.
Legal, social, and economic and then later AAAS says they will use the social sciences to get their heart’s desires. Use the real name–the behavioral sciences.
Yea, I’ve been working on the legal, social, and economic aspects of all these dirigiste shenanigans too except I think it’s to discourage, not encourage.
Resume cheating like standardized test cheating shouldn’t matter if your heart is pure and your intentions noble. At least that seems to be the accepted cost of gaining long sought transformations.
Non profit – a figment in the imagination of the IRS. The perfect conservative business model – no taxation – only volitional gifts.
$598k per year. No wonder they’re non-profit.
I have no problem with it.
signed. George O’Leary /sarc
The rich entitled class, they honestly believe they earn their money, they honestly believe they did it all themselves, they honestly believe they are above those in the working class and they actively work to facilitate a class system. If you don’t believe this you have never moved in the uber rich class circles.
“Maybe some credible Journalist would like to take this up and create a node-connection diagram?”
Someone in the UK did start a database of charities and their funding, and soon discovered that many of the loudest lobbyists were actually getting much, or most, of their funding from the very government they were lobbying.
I think this is the site: http://fakecharities.org/
Peter Miller says:
July 27, 2013 at 3:11 pm
This highlights an important question:
If all the NGOs were abolished, would anyone operating in the real world notice?
The only thing I can think of is that this might lower our tax bills.
Does anyone know of a genuinely useful NGO?
——-
Well, the Salvation Army has been saving and enhancing lives of the poor and desperate for a long time now. And most of their people work right among those they serve. I would hate to see legitimate and very good, charities such as the Salvation Army lumped in with the left wing political action committees posing as non-profits.
-The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is big on pushing this pet project: “the Alternative Energy Future“ –
watch your retirment funds!
25 July: Bloomberg: Sally Bakewell: Insurance Bill for Renewables Seen Tripling to $2.8 Billion
Insurance costs for the renewable energy industry may more than triple to $2.8 billion by 2020 as projects become more complex and risky, a report commissioned by Swiss Re Ltd. found…
***The increases will be driven by a move by the wind energy industry to generate more power from offshore farms and as more risk-averse investors such as pension funds enter the industry, the report for the world’s second-biggest re-insurer found…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-25/insurance-bill-for-renewables-may-rise-to-2-8-billion-by-2020.html
Interesting example of alarmist dishonesty, this Berlowitz.
@Patrick Guinness –
Here in California, even after Solyndra and Fiskar, you hear the demands that pension funds invest in speculative green companies.
I’d take it a step further and contact your pension fund manager and ask them if they are investing in this sort of dog meat, and if so, read them the riot act about violating their fiduciary responsibility to their account holders and tell them to get the hell out of those investments and stay out of them. I myself am doing that, and I will raise holy hell with them if I ever find out they are risking my retirement on some green flapdoodle.
Of course the economic illiterates who make such demand don’t give a rat’s sphincter whether what they do harms retirees and pensioners, but they seriously need to back off – and be forced to do so if they won’t go away.
Jimbo says: “Anthony, keep an eye on this for mid September Arctic sea ice minimum, whatever it turns out to be. I have checked each year since 1958 and it looks like the coldest so far for the “Daily mean temperature and climate north of the 80th northern parallel, as a function of the day of year.”
Loss of ice is less a function of temperature and more of 1. average sustained wind direction and velocity, 2. melting from below, 3. sublimation due to low humidity, 4. particulate (esp. soot) deposition on the ice surface.
I, iirc, also believe you’ve missed several years for which the current daily temperature is at or slightly below 2013’s. And like you said, you’re OT.
Someone needs to create a statistical model of her academic career and show that she did indeed achieve a doctorate level education, despite the absence of any empirical diploma.
GaryM, someone needs to create a historical model of her commercial career and show that she did indeed commit a crime, despite the absence of an empirical conviction in a court of law.
ut8t5 on July 27, 2013 at 2:42 pm
“another crooked liberal”
Isn’t that a bit of unnecessary redundancy? 🙂
@Chad Wozniak
July 27, 2013 at 10:16 pm
Good for you. We need more people of your ilk,
Keep up the good work.
For the record: Many of us in Canada have been critical of our previous Environment Minister as he seemed too “green” for a Conservative. It worked [after many e-mails and letters].
He has been replaced with a new EM.
GaryM says:
July 27, 2013 at 11:50 pm
“Someone needs to create a statistical model of her academic career and show that she did indeed achieve a doctorate level education, despite the absence of any empirical diploma.”
Time, once again, to clean the coffee off my screen. 🙂
However, this isn’t so far from the truth. I spent some lucrative years as a physician recruiter. One particular time I was tasked with filling a position, the actual specialty escapes me as it was many years ago, but one requirement was that the candidate had to have completed a Fellowship in the specialty. So I recruited a physician who met all the requirements as per his CV. I spoke with him to verify all on his CV and he assured me it was correct and accurate. I set up a phone interview with the hospital administrator, they liked what they heard and decided to bring him into town (all expenses paid) for a face to face. I went about doing my routine followup verification calls and found out that this particular person did not actually have the “Fellowship” designation he claimed. The university where he did the fellowship acknowledged that he attended all the training required but that they only bestowed 3 Fellowships a year in that specialty and he was a fourth who, although completing all requirements, did not receive the official certificate as being a “Fellow”. This candidate was not acceptable to the hospital board and I was shut out from further recruiting for that hospital as they had to blame someone for the waste of money, i.e ME! It was then that I became a full fledged Skeptic about everything, especially claims on CVs.
There are some worthwhile NGOs and charities…someone mentioned the Salvation Army, and there is EWB (Engineers Without Borders), and then the long running service organizations like Rotary and Kiwanis, and educational organizations like FEE, so forth. A pluralistic society needs these. But some organizations are little more than plitical propagandizing, proselytizing operations, and the best defense against their efforts is skepticism–something always in short supply.
As we all might suppose, there are “charities” (or NGOs) that do no good at all, yet rake in funding. Often the worst of them are tied together through family. There is an expose’ about a small segment of the worst of charities here.
I recall seeing a recent paper somewhere, and I cannot currently find it, a road map of sorts which documented the interconnections among environmental NGOs, and which showed something that should be no surprise to anyone on this site: the extent to which politically connected people make space on the governing boards, or within the management, for their relatives and in-laws. I’ll continue to search for this.
Todd Wallack of the Boston Globe wrote a very good story about this last month. For those interested in additional details about Ms Berlowitz’s reign of terror and lies at the AAAS it’s worth the read:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/06/03/leader-cambridge-prestigious-academy-arts-and-sciences-inflated-resume-falsely-claiming-doctorate/kWvnF95OTkI0HCVvBHe9XJ/story.html
Fortunately for us, the President of the USA apparently doesn’t need any qualifications. Otherwise we could find fault or look into things like birth certificates, degrees, etc.
Several commenters have used the abbreviation “AAAS.”
AAAS is used by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which is not the same thing at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. I am not aware of the American Academy of Arts and sciences every using this abbreviation.
It would be a good idea to add a brief note to the post that makes this distinction.
Yes it is the fault of the people who hired her for failing to check something so easily checked.
Chad Wozniak –
don’t worry – i moved into cash (hope the bank doesn’t do a “bail-in” though!)
wish someone would put up a website to warn off the bosses of pension funds, etc, where the dozens of articles encouraging, or even demanding, such funds be invested in the CAGW scam could be posted. the public could discuss & decide the various actions they can take to ensure the fund managers know they don’t have the public’s approval. this is where our power resides, as there will never be an admission the CAGW “science” itself is wrong.
It would be better to divert them into investments that are “green” in some sense but also sensible, like onetime biofuel pioneer Solazyme (SZYM), which has switched to the production of profitable nutritional and cosmetic oils with more desirable qualities than natural oils. Here’s a link to a story about it in the SciAm of July 25: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-to-survive-as-former-algae-biofuel-maker-solazyme
And after resume padding and other offenses they will still pay this wench a half-million bucks!?!?!?!?! Where do I get on THAT gravy train?