[UPDATE: 4:30PM PST The plot thickens. Breitbart is reporting that Sullivan has a history with scientific misconduct charges, as well as investigations that exonerate without actually asking the tough questions. h/t to reader Holly Martin ]
Hmmm, this is more than a little strange. From the Examiner: The Board of Visitors announces: UVa President Teresa Sullivan will step down
====================================
Early on Sunday morning (6/10/2012), UVa Alumni received a stunning email sent by Helen E. Dragas, Rector, and Mark Kington, Vice Rector of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors, that conveyed startling news:
On behalf of the Board of Visitors, we are writing to tell you that the Board and President Teresa Sullivan today mutually agreed that she will step down as president of the University of Virginia effective August 15, 2012.
In January of 2010, President Sullivan had been unanimously elected by UVa’s governing Board. Rector John O. Wynne, who had chaired the board’s special committee on the nomination of a President, had described Teresa Sullivan as a person of integrity and vision, and “an extraordinary talent who brings to the University an enormous depth and breadth of experience in every aspect of public higher education.”
=============================================================
Now, after reading that, wondering about the abruptness of it all, try to connect these dots:
- Environmental Sciences, at the behest of the Dean of Science, votes to offer Mike Mann the Kington Chair, which was designated as going to a climate person. See Climate Depot story here.
- Mark Kington, a member of the Board (and Vice Rector) gets wind of it.
- Kington calls a quorum of the Board of Visitors and fires Sullivan.
- Maybe this is idle speculation, but why did they have to fire her so quickly and on a Sunday morning? And, just 15 months after her inauguration? Couldn’t it have waited until their next meeting? Inquiring minds want to know!!!
The official firing line is: “A philosophical difference of opinion”. Given what was said about Sullivan at the outset, surely this does not merit an action like this done in stealth mode on a weekend with the bare minimum quorum? This doesn’t pass the sniff test, something smells fishy to me.
In the middle of all this, during Sullivan’s brief tenure, we have UVa spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal contortions trying to prevent Mann’s UVa emails from seeing the sunlight of FOIA requests.
Let the speculation begin.
Related articles
- BREAKING: Virginia President, in Split With Board, Resigns (insidehighered.com)
- Teresa Sullivan, U.Va. president, steps down (wjla.com)
- Sullivan to resign as president (starexponent.com)
- U. of Virginia president to leave over ‘philosophical differences’ (insidehighered.com)
As Life Member alum of UVA and grad of the Darden School, I today received an email from the Dean announcing the “surprise.” I’ll add that as an alum, I have been embarrassed by the U’s contortions and wasted money (some of it my donations) in an effort to shield Mann. I was genuinely concerned that the UVA I knew – the home of what had been a rigorously enforced honor system – had been corrupted by politicians and ideologues masquerading as educators. I am relieved that the alumni have apparently made there views felt and that the Board of Visitors has finally acted.
It sounds as though the Board wants a president who will reverse the University’s decline. They will not find one.
OK, no one else has seen this at Breitbart? http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/11/The-Academic-Scandal-Elizabeth-Warren-and-Harvard-Dont-Want-You-to-Know-About
Apparently Sullivan is an old friend and colleague of Liz Warren’s who has skeletons in her own closet. No wonder she supports Mann in his effort to hide his!
Hope she doesn’t destroy evidence on her way out.
Time for popcorn 🙂
via expatshield.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01jxxll/Coast_Series_7_Riddle_of_the_Tides/
Avoid the toolbar download.
http://www.expatshield.com/
Somewhat off topic, but perhaps not completely:
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/skeptical-instructor-fired-from-oregon-state-university/
I’m not usually a ‘spread the word’ guy, but, if true, this stuff in the above link must end….
Funny. All of sudden, some of us are posting a link to the article at Breitbart website.
Breitbart is here. 🙂
Mr. Mark J. Kington has been Managing Director of X-10 Capital Management LLC since 2004. Mr. Kington serves as President of Kington Management Corporation. He is the Principal Officer and investor in several communications firms. He was a Managing Partner of Columbia Capital LLC and joined it in 1990. Prior to joining Columbia Capital, he served as Vice President of Communications Lending at First Union National Bank in Charlotte, North Carolina and Vice President of Investments of Malarkey-Taylor Associates in Washington, D.C. He serves as a Member of the Board of Visitors at University of Virginia, The, Northern Virginia Health Foundation and INOVA Health System Investment Committee. He serves as a Director of Boston Communications Group Inc. He has been a Director of Dominion Resources Inc., since 2005 and serves as its Member of Finance & Risk Oversight Committee and Member of Compensation, Governance & Nominating Committee. He served as a Director of Phoenix Wireless Group, Inc., JKB Global, LLC, Columbia Spectrum Management and Spaceworks, Inc. Mr. Kington received his B.S. from the University of Tennessee and his M.B.A. from the Colgate Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Background bio on Mark Kington, but the chair in question is called the Joe D and Helen J. Kington Professor in Environmental Change.
You might wish to peruse this web site: http://blogfromonhigh.blogspot.com/2012/04/thats-just-swell.html
Holly martin says:
June 11, 2012 at 4:27 pm
Great minds, and all that.
Nerd says: June 11, 2012 at 4:46 pm
Funny. All of sudden, some of us are posting a link to the article at Breitbart website.
Breitbart is here. 🙂
Got my t shirt a month ago. Like Obi-Wan, he became far more in death than they can ever imagine.
RE: Taphonomic says:
June 11, 2012 at 3:53 pm
I think Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart is on the scent. However I also think a lot may be involved, concerning what you so aptly describe as, “One of the apparently unresolved charges was preventing any independent check of the raw data in the files from which they took their information.”
A lot of this data-hiding has been going on, enabling people to exaggerate at the least, if not commit outright fraud. Recently, while running for Ted Kennedy’s seat, Liz Warren’s exaggerations were exposed by people who found ways to check her past. The more people dug the more silly stuff they found. For example. Liz wrote a “Cherokee recipe” for a cookbook, recipe turned out to be clipped and pasted from a famous French resteraunt in NYC. Now a link to Ms Warren is discovered, and Ms Warren is linked to Mann: One big, happy party of data-hiders.
At some point a college has to draw the line, before (as Techgm says at 4:23) they are “corrupted by politicians and ideologues masquerading as educators.” Call it a “tipping point” if you will, but I feel the point has been reached.
@ur momisugly Skiphill
re the “Couric connection” … From the President’s 2010-2011 Report (p. 6)
We’ve no way of knowing what the rules, regulations and/or protocols might be wrt selection of “speakers”; so even if Couric’s encore appearance (May 2012) was the result of a transgression on Sullivan’s part, it seems to me that this would have come to light long before now.
On the funding front (since it is assumed that the funding buck stops with the President) this same report notes (p. 3):
Typically, it takes a few months after the end of an organization’s fiscal year before the annual audit is completed. So Board initiated action on this front would seem to be somewhat premature.
Additionally, this President’s Report gives respectable nods (3 each) to “sustainable” and “climate change”.
Sullivan’s CV (which is longer than anyone’s arm I’ve ever seen!) indicates that her background and areas of interest (Sociology, bankruptcy, women’s studies, population studies) are very far removed from anything that might impinge upon the holy writs of “climate science”.
The closest thing I could find to which a dedicated climateer might object was her participation in the NRC’s 2007-09 “Committee on Ensuring the Utility and Integrity of Research Data in a Digital Age”. Assuming that there are some publicly accessible “findings” from this Committee, it might be worth a look.
Certainly, much of the UVA resistance re release of Mann’s emails occurred on Sullivan’s watch; but considering her background and interests, it is somewhat difficult to imagine that this was her idea – or one that she might have advocated for.
The Kington professorship appointment of Mann (assuming it came to fruition at some point after Morano’s speculation in April) must surely have had Kington’s blessing:
The above (from an undated page) seems to be in conflict with the President’s Report (p. 9):
Although it is conceivable that Kington’s vice-rectorship appointment was, in effect, a “recycling” exercise.
Considering Kington’s “green” roots – and Sullivan’s apparent lack thereof – my guess would be that if there have suddenly emerged some anticipated “funding” shortfalls for the current fiscal year, perhaps Sullivan suggested that (re maintaining the barricades against Mann E-mail disclosure) it was time to say enough is enough!
In addition, perhaps she had drawn a line in the sand regarding the Board’s “approval” of the Kington professorship. And she decided to resign rather than sell her soul (and integrity) to the green-growthers.
There’s also the possibility that Mann agreed to accept the position only if Sullivan was deposed (because her credentials were not sufficiently green for his liking?!); so Kington, who seems to have some powerful tentacles [pls see above], did some behind the scenes lobbying – and engineered a coup d’état.
See also:
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/9997b0f2042b4b3cab54312e15d9e6d1/VA–UVa-President-Resigns
In a period of financial stress, the green eyeshades have to come out, and the nice to haves have to be cut to zero. She either couldn’t or wouldn’t. Probably was paralyzed by the prospect of laying off everything and everybody with the word “Studies” attached to their name. Probably couldn’t stomach the idea of leaving STEM untouched. Probably proposed cuttng football and boosting women’s lacrosse. Probably proposed going after some more of that sweet sweet global warming research funding. Probably missed a couple of Board deadlines. When she finally showed up, the Board went “what is this c**p, are you serious?” and when she said she was, it was “ok, you’re outta here, hasta la bye-bye”.
Notice that tic “compensation of our valued faculty and staff has continued to decline”. When you are talking universities, the faculty are the superstars that bring in money, and the staff are the drudges that spend it. If you think staff make a university great …
Sometimes, clarity is good, Sometimes, your best effort just isn’t good enough, and so it’s time to hit the bricks.
I see Ms. Sullivan’s name mentioned in connection with possible “scientific misconduct” of Elizabeth Warren and her co-authors of one of Ms. Warrens books. Ms Sullivan was one of the co-authors. See http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/06/were-charges-of-scientific-misconduct-against-elizabeth-warren-ever-fully-vetted/ for more info and ore links.
Rather than a tipping point I view the situation as a reservoir filling with toxic sludge. Once the reservoir is filled the sludge begins to overflow – This is where we are now! Beyond that the dam begins to erode until we get to the point where the dam fails.
Unfortunately after the dam fails we still have the toxic sludge coming from upstream.
To start with the Breitbart story starts out with a major error, they got the date of publication wrong. Combine that with no link to the supposed “documentation” and I would tend to dismiss the story. If they can back it up — especially with the supposed documents from the NSF — then I will pay attention. Failure to provide any link to them looks pretty bad.
hro001:
Certainly you may be correct in your assessment, however, above all, Kington seems to be a legitimate businessman and simply may not agree with Mann as someone that would uphold the ideals of his father. Speculatively speaking, of course, while noting there are at least a few dyed in the wool types that have expressed disgust in Mann’s behavior.
Mark
Sorry, the original publication date seems to be 1989, edition listed on Amazon (and linked to in the article) is shown as 1999.
The link in the update is really interesting. Sullivan (and Elizabeth Warren!) were accused of scientific misconduct by Professor Shuchman for arranging matters in a way preventing any independent check of the raw data in the files from which they took their information. In support of his accusation, Shuchman notes:
A common instance of misconduct in science occurs when “there [is] no way to verify whether or not [the] research was accurate.’ Woolf, Deception in Scientific Research, 29 Jurimetrics J. 67, 83 table 5 n.4 (1988).
Wow. For those of us following the climate debate, and in particular the hockey stick wars, this charge is oh too familiar.
Uva is chock full of hard core leftists. Judging from her bio and known associates, former el presedente Sullivan is right in her element. Most probably a Paul Eherlic disciple.
Kington came from one of the slimyest big banks around. They were so bad and their rep was so bad that when First Union ate Wachovia they took their name.
The long and short of it is that academic integrity has been long gone at Uva.
A quid pro quo cover-up (among colleagues) for scientific malfeasance/flawed inductive reasoning combined with a working knowledge of the complaint process. It could take 25 years to get through the complaint system…..oh wait……when did this happen?
Rattus Norvegicus says:
June 11, 2012 at 7:22 pm
To start with the Breitbart story starts out with a major error, they got the date of publication wrong. Combine that with no link to the supposed “documentation” and I would tend to dismiss the story. If they can back it up — especially with the supposed documents from the NSF — then I will pay attention. Failure to provide any link to them looks pretty bad.
===========
As far as I can tell, Breitbart isn’t showing the whole thing at once right away. Did you see the part where they wrote –
“The next three articles in this series will address the conduct of three institutions enmeshed in this scandal: The University of Texas, the National Science Foundation, and Harvard University.”
Next time read carefully. I did read Breitbart’s book “Righteous Indignation” and I know how they operate. Maybe you should read the book and find out why.
Gunga Din says:
June 11, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Neo says:
June 11, 2012 at 1:49 pm
“… because she invited Katie Couric to be the 2012 Commencement Speaker .. ”
I doubt this. My college commencement had the President for the School of Clowns of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as a speaker, so nothing could be worse.
===============================================================
Oh, I dunno. How about Al Gore?
———————
Isn’t that redundant?
cn
Nerd, how about a link to the text quoted in the Breitbart article. This is the web, you know…
BUMMER!
Couldn’t she have quit AFTER hiring Mike Mann?
We, at Penn State, were willing to help, by writing GLOWING letters for Mike.