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Time of India
28-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
In a stunning first for US academia, Harvard revokes tenure for ethics scholar Francesca Gino over data manipulation
Harvard revokes tenure for ethics scholar Francesca Gino in unprecedented US academic case. (Getty Images) Harvard University has taken the extraordinary step of revoking tenure from Francesca Gino, a world-renowned ethics scholar, following an internal investigation that found evidence of data manipulation. This rare decision marks one of the most significant disciplinary actions in US higher education in recent decades and has ignited widespread debate on academic integrity and research ethics. The Harvard Corporation, the university's top governing board, confirmed the move this month, ending Gino's employment at Harvard Business School. Gino, celebrated internationally for her work on honesty and ethical behaviour, had faced serious allegations of academic misconduct and fraud, which she denied. Several sources told the WGBH News that the decision was communicated to business faculty during a confidential meeting last week. Feeling Alone While Studying Abroad? 7 Proven Tips to Build Real Connections and Friendships Investigation uncovers manipulated data in multiple studies Concerns about Gino's research surfaced in 2023 after a group of behavioural scientists running a blog called Data Colada flagged irregularities in some of her work. Harvard promptly launched an internal inquiry which concluded that Gino had manipulated data in at least four studies to support her hypotheses. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Todos os idosos deveriam ter um desse no banheiro! Veja só! Evite quedas e escorregões Saiba Mais Undo As a result, she was placed on unpaid administrative leave while the investigation proceeded. The university's disciplinary action is highly unusual. According to Harvard, stripping a professor of tenure is a step not taken for decades. In fact, WGBH News could not identify any prior example where the Harvard Corporation had revoked tenure entirely. Gino's case is now seen as a landmark moment that may prompt other universities to revisit how they handle allegations of scientific fraud. Lawsuit and court rulings deepen controversy In response to the allegations and investigation, Gino filed a $25 million lawsuit against Harvard, Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar, and the Data Colada bloggers. She claimed defamation, gender discrimination, and invasion of privacy, arguing the accusations irreparably harmed her reputation. However, a federal judge in Boston dismissed her defamation claims last September, ruling that as a public figure she was subject to scrutiny protected by the First Amendment, as reported by the WGBH. The legal battle and the university's disciplinary measures come at a tense moment for US higher education. The Department of Homeland Security recently moved to revoke Harvard's authority to enrol international scholars, who make up a quarter of its student body, unless the university hands over disciplinary records and protest footage. Harvard challenged this order in court, with a federal judge temporarily blocking the administration's action ahead of a scheduled hearing, as reported by the WGBH. Wider implications for US academia and international students M any Harvard professors familiar with the case expressed concern over rising anti-intellectualism and attacks on academic freedom, especially from the current Trump administration. Some fear that these pressures risk damaging US higher education's global standing and could deter talented researchers from both inside and outside the country. Gino, originally from Italy, has been a prominent figure internationally, delivering presentations to Fortune 500 companies worldwide. Over a third of Harvard Business School's MBA students come from abroad, contributing substantial tuition revenue that supports domestic students through financial aid. Legal experts suggest that tenure revocations like Gino's could become more common if universities more aggressively address academic misconduct. However, as quoted by the WGBH, some warn that overly strict policing might discourage innovation and risk attracting negative attention to institutions. This unprecedented case at Harvard serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing challenges facing US academia in balancing transparency, academic freedom, and research integrity. Ready to empower your child for the AI era? Join our program now! Hurry, only a few seats left.
New York Post
16-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Billionaire Bill Ackman calls on Harvard's powerful board to resign as ‘once-great' university flounders
Bill Ackman has called on the entire board of the Ivy League college to resign, accusing its members of 'presiding over the destruction of the once-great institution' over a fiddling response to antisemitism on campus. The 59-year-old hedge-fund billionaire, who for years has been at odds with his alma mater over its poor policing of Jew hatred, said 'only new leadership' of the Harvard Corporation, the university's governing body 'can fix this mess.' Ackman, worth an estimated $9 billion, responded to an article on X that suggested Harvard is breaking the law by adopting DEI hiring practices. Advertisement 3 Ackman, a Harvard alum, has been vocal about the school's issues. REUTERS 'Chair Penny Pritzker and the entire Harvard Corporation Board need to resign. They are presiding over the destruction of this once-great institution,' Ackman wrote. The Post has approached Harvard for comment. Advertisement Pritzker, whose father founded the Hyatt hotel chain, served in the second Obama administration as Commerce secretary, while her brother is the larger-than-life governor of Illinois, Democrat Party kingpin and staunch Donald Trump critic JB Pritzker. Just over 10 days ago, Ackman had backed the Trump administration's move to freeze federal grants to Harvard, accusing the college's tax-exempt $53 billion endowment of being poorly managed. Ackman has become an active user of Elon Musk's social media platform, regularly firing off missives to his 1.7 million followers about investing, Wall Street, and US politics. 3 Ackman accused leadership of failing to tackle hatred against Jews on campus. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement The staunch Israel supporter has repeatedly lambasted companies and colleges for failing to tackle anti-semitism after the Oct. 7 massacre that saw more than 1,200 innocent civilians killed by Palestinian terrorists. Ackman urged now-deposed Harvard president Claudine Gay to stand down over the anti-Semitic demonstrations on campus, but she eventually resigned in January of last year over a plagiarism scandal. The billionaire, who announced his resignation from the board of Universal Music Group on Wednesday, had also threatened to yank its stock exchange listing in Amsterdam after Jew-hating soccer thugs attacked fans of Israeli club Macabbi Tel Aviv. 3 Ackman demanded Claudine Gay, the first black president of Harvard, step down over anti-semitism on campus. She eventually quit over a plagarism scandal. David McGlynn Advertisement The Trump administration accuses the current Harvard leadership of failing to do enough to protect Jewish students, while it has opened a string of probes into the Cambridge, Mass. school. Harvard is currently suing the US government over its decision to freeze federal funding. The commander-in-chief previously said he wants to see Harvard stripped of its tax-exempt status as he presses for reforms at colleges he accuses of 'indoctrinating' students with 'radical left' ideas. Ackman rose to prominence in 2012 with a disastrous $1 billion short of Herbalife, the dietary supplements firm, with rival activist Carl Icahn taking an opposite stance on the company's future. The pair then had an infamous row live on CNBC over the issue the following year.
Boston Globe
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
What to know about Penny Pritzker, Harvard Corporation leader and latest Trump target in fight over federal funding
Advertisement Pritzker, 66, has led the board during a tumultuous time. In the fall of 2023, student demonstrations against the war in Gaza roiled the campus, with some denouncing the rallies as antisemitic. In December 2023, the university's president, Claudine Gay, drew outcry after offering equivocal responses to a congressional committee on antisemitism. She was also accused of plagiarism in her academic work. Pritzker and other Harvard Corporation members had been responsible for preparing Gay for her appearance, and later defended her performance in a unanimous statement, Gay resigned a couple weeks later, ending her tenure after just six months. Pritzker is now facing scrutiny over Harvard's handling of the fight over federal funding with President Trump, who said this week the Advertisement As Pritzker's detractors grow louder, here's what to know about the Harvard leader. What did Bill Ackman say about Pritzker? On Monday, the hedge fund manager and Harvard graduate said the Harvard Corporation 'The notion that she is still chairing the Harvard board and leading the charge is a big negative,' he told Bloomberg Television. What did Secretary of Education McMahon say about Pritzker? Later Monday, US Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote a In the letter posted to X, McMahon cited Ackman's allegations against Pritzker's leadership at Harvard, arguing she is responsible for Harvard's 'mismanagement.' 'The Harvard Corporation, which is supposed to competently and professionally manage Harvard's vast academic, financial, and physical resources, is run by strongly left-leaning Obama appointee Penny Pritzker, a Democrat operative, who is catastrophic and running the institution in a totally chaotic way,' Harvard President Claudine Gay speaks during a hearing of the House Committee on Education on Capitol Hill, Dec. 5, 2023 in Washington. Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press Pritzker led the committee that selected former president Claudine Gay Pritzker was chair of the presidential search committee that selected Claudine Gay in late 2022. Gay took office as the university's first Black president in 2023. In a letter Advertisement Gay's brief tenure was shaped by crises over her response to the Israel-Hamas war, testimony at a congressional hearing over campus antisemitism, and accusations of plagiarism involving some of her academic research. Pritzker family has ties to hotels, real estate Pritzker was born to a wealthy Chicago family that would soon become well-known for the work of her uncle and father, who founded the Hyatt Hotel company in 1957 after purchasing the first property in Los Angeles. Later, Penny Pritzker ran the Hyatt corporation alongside family members and launched real estate and financial firms of her own. Forbes Magazine calculated Pritzker's Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker speaks about her appointment by her brother and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to head the state's new COVID-19 Response Fund. E. Jason Wambsgans/Associated Press Governing roles at Harvard date back more than 20 years Pritzker studied economics at Harvard, and earned a law degree and an MBA from Stanford University. In 2022, Pritzker became the first woman to be senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, Pritzker has supported high-profile Democratic politicians Pritzker was a major donor to the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama, who nominated her to be secretary of commerce. After being confirmed by the Senate, Pritzker held the cabinet position from 2013 to 2017, when she joined the board of directors at Microsoft. Previous Globe reporting was used in this report. Claire Thornton can be reached at
New York Post
05-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Bill Ackman demands Harvard fire ex-Obama official Penny Pritzker from governing board: ‘Time for a change in leadership'
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman is again taking aim at Harvard University — this time demanding the removal of Penny Pritzker, a former Obama official and leading Democratic donor, from the school's top leadership over its handling of a high-stakes conflict with President Donald Trump. Ackman, a Harvard College and Harvard Business School alumnus who went on to found the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, told CNBC on Monday the university should have negotiated with the Trump administration rather than filing a lawsuit over its threatened loss of federal funding. He specifically blamed Pritzker, who is currently senior fellow at Harvard Corporation, calling her stewardship of the university's finances and broader mission a failure. Advertisement 5 Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager and Harvard alumnus, is demanding that his alma mater boot Penny Pritzker from its governing board. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images 'The mismanagement here is Penny Pritzker,' Ackman said. 'It's time for a change in leadership in the board at Harvard.' Harvard sued the federal government last month, accusing it of unlawfully suspending more than $2 billion in funding after the university declined to comply with a series of demands that the Trump administration says were aimed at curbing antisemitism on campus. Advertisement The lawsuit argued that the government's requests — related to diversity initiatives, faculty hiring, student discipline, and governance structures — were unconstitutional and amounted to political interference in academic freedom. Ackman, however, suggested Harvard's response was combative and counterproductive. 'They should have acknowledged that Trump made some good points,' he said. 'And looked to strike a deal with the president.' 5 Penny Pritzker, a former US commerce secretary during the Obama administration, has served as senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation since July 2022. Getty Images for Semafor Advertisement Ackman said it would be 'fair' for Harvard to lose its tax-exempt status, citing the university's perceived political bias. 'Harvard became, over time, a political advocacy organization for one party,' he said. 'When a university goes from being a university to becoming a political advocacy organization, it doesn't deserve nonprofit status.' Despite that criticism, Ackman added, 'I want Harvard to succeed,' and said he does not ultimately believe the school will lose its tax exemption. Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Advertisement The comments mark the latest escalation in a bitter and ongoing feud between Ackman and the university he once proudly supported. His public criticism of Harvard began in October 2023 following the Hamas attack on Israel, when the school faced national scrutiny over how it responded to pro-Palestinian student protests. Ackman, who is Jewish, accused the university of moral cowardice and called for accountability from its leadership. He later advocated for the resignation of then-Harvard President Claudine Gay, who ultimately stepped down in January 2024. Now, Ackman's attention has turned to Pritzker, who has served as senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation since July 2022 — the first woman to hold the powerful post. 5 Ackman thinks Harvard erred in resisting demands from President Trump to take measures aimed at curbing antisemitism. AP A billionaire heiress to the Hyatt hotel fortune and a longtime Democratic donor, Pritzker is also the sister of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. She has deep ties to the university, having served on the Board of Overseers before joining the corporation in 2018. As senior fellow, Pritzker oversees the corporation's key responsibilities, including managing Harvard's endowment, guiding long-term strategy and leading presidential search efforts. Advertisement 5 Harvard has filed suit against the Trump administration after it suspended $2 billion in funding. AP She played a central role in the appointment of Gay and has remained in her position despite calls for a broader leadership overhaul in the wake of her resignation. The Pritzker family, a prominent Jewish dynasty with ancestral roots in Ukraine, has long been involved in both business and philanthropy. Penny Pritzker served as US secretary of commerce under Barack Obama and was appointed in 2023 by Joe Biden as economic envoy to Ukraine. Advertisement While the university has not commented publicly on Ackman's latest remarks, Harvard's legal filing last month stated that the government's actions posed a serious threat to academic freedom and the autonomy of higher education institutions. 5 Penny Pritzker is the sister of JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois. REUTERS The case has become a flashpoint in a broader national debate over political influence on university governance, diversity programs and free speech on campus. Ackman has become an increasingly vocal figure in debates over higher education and corporate governance. Advertisement His high-profile clashes with Harvard have polarized alumni and donors, with some rallying to his side and others accusing him of undermining institutional independence. The Post has sought comment from Harvard.
CNN
30-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Inside JB Pritzker's public and private efforts to counter Trump and challenge fellow Democrats
JB Pritzker greeted Rep. Maggie Goodlander with a joke. Answering his own question about how the New Hampshire congresswoman's first few months in office have been, the Illinois governor laughed: 'Awful, right?' But the conversation immediately became a mini-huddle about the debates they've each been having with friends at law firms over conceding to President Donald Trump's demands and the conversation Pritzker had with his sister, Penny, as she leads the Harvard Corporation in its own fight. 'This is the way the world ends,' Goodlander said, after they turned and smiled for their photo. Pritzker raised his eyebrows, clenched his lips together in a grimace that looked like he was maybe about to blow a trumpet and gave a slight nod. He has been making that face a lot these days. 'There is certain momentum where people are now feeling like — well, the politicians are feeling like, 'Oh there's a political reason why I should now speak out and be a fighter.' I don't care why you're joining the fight at this point, we just need everybody out there, right?' Pritzker told CNN in an interview a few minutes later. 'And then there are others who are joining the fight because they're coming to a real realization that, 'This is much worse than I thought it would be and it's getting worse.' And then I look at some of the people who have capitulated and I wonder in the end, is this how you want people to think of you?' There was nothing subtle about Pritzker's trip to New Hampshire, the state where politicians go to spark chatter about potential presidential runs. Nor was there much subtlety with his intense speech chiding his own party for 'simpering timidity' and demanding a stronger, prouder response to what he sees as the 'tyrants and traitors' among the Republicans, woven with lines designed to be easily clipped on social media. All that, along with Pritzker's speeches comparing Trump to the rise of Nazis and the governor's calendar of similar Democratic event appearances around the country are the visible, visceral part of what he's doing to push his party now and stoke talk about 2028, even as he repeats that Democrats should focus on the 2026 elections. Pritzker and his team are making a bet about where the country is, and where it's going. The existential bet is that things are going to get much darker and more authoritarian. The political bet is that Democrats will remember deep in their cores who was out front first. As a man who was one of the Democratic Party's biggest donors long before he was a governor bracing his state against Trump's actions or a potential presidential hopeful, Pritzker is in a unique spot. Most expect if he runs in 2028 he would largely self-fund his campaign, as he has done in Illinois. The Hyatt hotel fortune made the family so rich that several heirs are billionaires. Now, on top of his official duties, his days can range from calling up Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler to say he hadn't seen enough yard signs while driving through his neighboring state and asking how much money they needed to fix that, to calling executives he knows from before his time in office to urge them to think how history will see their administration-friendly moves now, to calling Maine Gov. Janet Mills after the president threatened to strip funding from her state during an event at the White House in February. The Democratic Governors Association's aghast statement after Trump's heated Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was because Pritzker, along with frequent phone buddy Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, insisted on it, according to aides to both. Pritzker and his aides are initiating calls to other governors, state legislators and activists urging them to follow Illinois' lead in anticipating Trump's next moves. Pritzker has his own plane, so it wasn't travel logistics that kept him from this year's National Governors Association meeting in February in Washington, but an unspoken statement about how feckless he has found the Republicans in the group in standing up for their states against Trump and how disappointingly docile he has found too many of his fellow Democrats. In the interview, Pritzker compared this moment in America to what he sees walking through the exhibits of the Holocaust museum he helped get built outside Chicago. He likened it to the point when Nazis were on the rise, everyone was writing them off and only looking back 'where you can feel, you know it, you can see and absorb what was happening in 1933, 1934.' Others, including fellow governors, see opportunism, or at least the convenient freedom that he has as a rich man in a solidly blue state so comfortable in his standing and wealth that he spent millions in the 2022 Republican gubernatorial primary to get a weaker candidate he could run up the score on. Unlimited money means unlimited new groups and organizations he can fund that don't do much except provide new avenues for press releases and TV bookings. Now Pritzker's Think Big PAC, formed after the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision to boost abortion protection ballot measures across the country, is preparing to expand both geographically and on issues, with plans to support efforts to protect Medicaid and Head Start programs, according to people familiar with the plans. 'The people who are fighting against the things that are so important to working families and the fundamental values of Democrats have all the money, or most of it,' Pritzker said. 'And so when I have an opportunity, I step up.' His fortune means Pritzker has the dollars, but also the entre with other major donors to serve as a sort of angel investor in ways that are known among Democratic insiders but not immediately apparent. Sometimes that's through drawing attention by news of where he's weighing in. Sometimes it's through organizing calls with others in their own mansions to say where he's giving to prod them to match. Stacy Pearson, an Arizona consultant who helped run last year's successful campaign to pass abortion protections in the state, told CNN that unlike other big donors who have not actually helped, Pritzker's efforts were so quietly strategic — ranging from chipping in for the legal fees to secure the initiative's spot on the ballot to subsidizing outreach and ads — that she found herself telling the governor right before the election that she couldn't figure out how they'd efficiently spend whatever else he was offering. 'No one ever tells me,' Pearson remembers Pritzker saying with a big laugh, 'they don't need more of my money.' Yet Pritzker is in a party where attacking Elon Musk can seem at times just as popular as attacking Trump, where independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been drawing massive crowds around the country for their 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour, and where several operatives already sizing up the prospective presidential field told CNN they're looking forward to making Pritzker's bank account his main weakness. 'The terms that the people use, 'oligarchs' and 'billionaires' and whatever, they're talking about values,' Pritzker said. 'It's shorthand for everybody to use these words. And I have used the word oligarch, because I think people have looked at like the four tech titans who were sitting next to Trump at the inauguration, and just said, 'Well, those are the oligarchs.' I think it's an easy word for people to use. I don't take it as an offense to me.' Asked what he thinks of those who are just suspicious of rich people, Pritzker said, 'I get it.' That's why, Pritzker said, he spent so much time traveling his state in his first run for governor and participating in dozens of debates and forums, so that 'by the end, I think what people said is, 'He's a normal guy and he cares about people like me.'' At least in the room on Sunday night in Manchester, that was the feeling many left with. 'I know Pritzker is a billionaire, but I also know he has been consistent in how he's spoken,' said Liz Kotowski, a retired environmental works employee from Manchester. 'If you can't see the difference between JB Pritzker and Elon Musk, you're not listening,' said Lucas Coriaty, a 23-year-old who came from the University of New Hampshire and waited half an hour after the speech to take a selfie and tell the governor he felt inspired. One measure of the political moment and how Pritzker has placed himself in it: His call for mass protests and disruptions lit up Democrats online and top MAGA personalities, who quickly accused him of an incitement toward violence that was not, in fact, in his carefully worded speech. Also reposting video from that moment of the speech: Ocasio-Cortez. Part of Pritzker's speech in New Hampshire included blasting Trump for subverting Jewish values in the name of combatting antisemitism through the administration's war with elite universities. This is less from being an active member of his synagogue than from reading his great-grandfather's book. Every Pritzker gets a copy at 13 years old — a bar or bat mitzvah present for those in the family who have them, or just a birthday present. It's the story of escaping pogroms in Ukraine, of arriving penniless as a refugee, of sleeping on the streets and then of starting what would become one of America's biggest family fortunes. Pritzker didn't really read much of it when he was 13. He's read it several times since. Now he keeps one copy on the shelf in his home office, another on a shelf in his gubernatorial office. 'It's our family ethos that's kind of wrapped up in this thing. He was an enormously ethical person who cared deeply about this country and the fact that we were really saved by this country had we not had the ability to have safety and security. And the ability to thrive.' Pritzker has clocked how New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who set out to charm Trump over dinners at the president's Bedminster golf club during the height of Covid-19 and was one of the first to call the president after last year's assassination attempt, still ended up with Trump's former lawyer — via her new perch as an interim US attorney — investigating him over his handling of immigration enforcement. Or that Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, fiercely loyal since she was Trump's press secretary, had to go public after being denied federal recovery aid following recent storms in her state. 'He's vindictive to every state, it appears to me. Yes, he doesn't like his enemies and he goes after his enemies. But I was going to suffer that either way,' Pritzker said. 'It's not like he hasn't had words about Chicago.' In 2017, at the same New Hampshire Democrats dinner on the last Sunday in April, at the same Manchester hotel, Joe Biden was the featured speaker. He also gave a speech urging Trump-stunned Democrats to rediscover themselves, then declared into the microphone, 'I'm not running.' Pritzker didn't bother with a line he knows isn't true, though in the interview before the speech he stuck to saying he hasn't even decided whether to launch the campaign for a third term as governor that aides are already planning, teasing more speeches around the country, and giving on-brand line: 'This is a time for people to stand up and fight.' Several party operatives working their way around the weekend's White House Correspondents' Dinner events were gaming when to reach out about signing up with him, while focus group research has already quietly been passed around about whether the governor's weight is a positive or negative with voters, according to people who've seen the findings. The Democratic diehards in the longtime first-primary state on Sunday night responded with a 40-minute clump waiting to thank Pritzker and take their own photos, or to lean in with a version of how state Rep. Zoe Manos said goodbye: 'When are you coming back again?'
