Stanford president to step down

Marc Tessier-Lavigne is stepping down as president of Stanford College following the discharge of a months-long investigation into analysis misconduct allegations that discovered he left errors in scientific papers uncorrected amid allegations of information manipulation.

Information of his resignation was introduced Wednesday.

Tessier-Lavigne mentioned in a resignation letter that he was “gratified” that an investigative panel “concluded I didn’t interact in any fraud or falsification of scientific information.”

Nevertheless, he famous that it was in the most effective curiosity of Stanford that he step down.

“Though the report clearly refutes the allegations of fraud and misconduct that have been made towards me, for the great of the College, I’ve made the choice to step down as President efficient August 31,” Tessier-Lavigne wrote.

Tessier-Lavigne, a famend neuroscientist, first confronted claims of analysis misconduct in November when the Stanford Daily reported on allegations that a number of analysis articles he co-authored within the early 2000s contained manipulated photographs. Tessier-Lavigne has denied the analysis misconduct claims from the start, pushing back forcefully at instances on the newspaper, which he accused of creating a “string of false allegations” and unfairly questioning his integrity.

The newspaper has stood by its reporting, with the scholar reporter who first broke the information profitable a prestigious 2022 George Polk Award in Journalism for his scoop on the president.

At a faculty recognized for its analysis prowess, the allegations of misconduct landed exhausting. Stanford college members have expressed blended reactions, with some encouraging the president to step down amid questions over his analysis whereas others cautioned towards a rush to judgment.

Stanford responded by making a Board of Trustees committee to analyze the claims, later including a panel of analysis consultants and a legislation agency to the hassle. The board has indicated that the hassle concerned “lots of of hours of conferences and witness interviews” with greater than 26,000 paperwork reviewed as a part of an in-depth investigation.

Allegations of analysis misconduct hung over Tessier-Lavigne for months as he battled different public relations challenges, together with a free speech controversy at Stanford Regulation Faculty, which prompted the president to apologize to a conservative choose shouted down by college students in March. Critics have additionally raised concerns about student suicide rates, and the university is currently being sued by the household of former soccer star Katie Meyer, who died by suicide final 12 months.

Tessier-Lavigne’s condemnations of the scholar newspaper’s protection of his alleged analysis misconduct additionally prompted scrutiny from exterior observers who questioned whether or not the president ought to make such an aggressive public protection amid an ongoing investigation.

(It is a creating story, which will likely be up to date as data turns into obtainable.)