Stanford president will step down after questions about research [View all]

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Source: Washington Post

HIGHER EDUCATION

Stanford president will step down after questions about research

An inquiry found no evidence he engaged in fraud or falsification of data

By Susan Svrluga
July 19, 2023 at 1:06 p.m. EDT



Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne speaks in 2019. He says he will resign at the end of August. (Yichuan Cao/Sipa USA/AP)

Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced Wednesday he will resign after an investigative report found he had failed to correct mistakes in years-old scientific papers and overseen labs that had an “unusual frequency” of manipulations of data.

The dramatic fall from the top of one of the world’s most respected research institutions followed a months-long inquiry prompted by allegations of research misconduct.

A panel of experts concluded that Tessier-Lavigne, a neuroscientist who has been president of Stanford for nearly seven years, did not engage in any fraud or falsification of scientific data. It also did not find evidence that he was aware of problems before publication of data.

But the review provides a portrait of a scientist who co-authored papers with “serious flaws” and failed on multiple occasions to “decisively and forthrightly correct mistakes” when concerns were raised. Tessier-Lavigne said Wednesday that he would ask for three papers to be retracted and two corrected. A panel of prominent scientists, engaged by a special committee of the private university’s board of trustees, examined a dozen of the more than 200 papers published during his career.

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Jack Stripling contributed to this report.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

By Susan Svrluga
Susan Svrluga is a reporter covering higher education for The Washington Post. Before that, she covered education and local news at The Post. Twitter https://twitter.com/SusanSvrluga

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/07/19/stanford-university-marc-tessier-lavigne-research-controversy/