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1/ This a thread about Boston University (@BU_Tweets), its biology department (@BU_Biology), and the university administration’s long tolerance of an abusive biologist for many years before finally forcing him to resign. The biologist is Adrien Finzi, whose resignation…
2/ was effective at the end of June of this year: . This mini-report is based on discussions with a number of current and former members of the biology department with intimate knowledge of the history of events. They have asked to remain…bu.edu/biology/people…
3/ anonymous to avoid retaliation from Finzi, whose bullying and veiled and unveiled threats of violence over the years created a very tense environment in the department, both for faculty and for students. According to sources, the allegations go back at least as far…
4/ as 2005, soon after Finzi received tenure, when his behavior towards fellow faculty and students became increasingly hostile. These incidents continued over the following years and became more and more serious, especially around 2009, when Finzi began to make overt…
5/ physical threats against fellow faculty members. Over the years, as the behavior continued, faculty members made numerous complaints to the biology department chairs and various deans, who reportedly admonished Finzi but took no serious action. Among the deans involved…
6/ was Ann Cudd, now provost at the University of Pittsburgh, who was made aware of the situation in detail. (Cudd, whom I contacted earlier this year, has declined to discuss the matter after originally responding by email.) However, as Finzi’s bullying increasingly…
7/ targeted his graduate students, it became more obvious to the university administration that something had to be done. Finally, according to sources, the current dean of arts and sciences, Stan Sclaroff, became involved and obtained Finzi’s resignation, presumably with…
8/ help from the university counsel (since Finzi had often threatened to sue anyone who took action against him, this was not a small matter.) Sclaroff also declined to discuss the subject with me, citing it as a personnel matter. Of course, as I have discussed many times…
9/ before, the presence of an abuser at a university or any other institution or workplace is not a “personnel matter,” nor a matter that should be kept secret. It affects everyone in the workplace, including future students who might have come to work with Finzi…
10/ but could be warned off if they knew his history and pattern of behavior. The secrecy benefits only the institution and its efforts to protect its reputation from public scrutiny. Even as it finally did the right thing, BU continues to want to keep this saga, so painful…
11/ for both students and faculty in the BU biology department, from becoming known to a wider public, even within the department and the university itself. That cannot stand. I would invite comment here or in my DMs from anyone who wants to get in touch about this.
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