Time bomb explodes in Massachusetts

Boston Globe article.

 

Here's a URL that worked for me, for this story about the head of a state laboratory and his Trinity Southern University, $500 Ph.D. by return mail.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/11/12/state_reviewing_lab_chiefs_doctoral_degree/

 

Looks like John Bear got the link I was trying to post.

Boston Globe stories usually vanish after a couple of days.

 

Perhaps it is within the realm of plausible deniability to claim that you didn't know that your Ph.D. was bogus even though you did no work and only sent in a 10 page "resume".

Now let's say that he claimed a Ph.D. but refused to tell that it was Trinity Southern that had destowed the degree? Wouldn't it then have to be pure deceit and fraud on his part?

 

I know Mr. Timperi indirectly by his reputation, which is (was?) above reproach.

Given his body of work, combined with his reputation, along with the fact that he refuted the Trinity Southern degree almost immediately, I tend to almost believe his explanation.

I say "almost" because I do think he intended to deceive his employer and colleagues, but when he realized the jig was up, he came clean.

The really sad thing is that there is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Timperi could complete a legitimate doctoral program, if he chose to put in the time and effort.

 

I am always amazed when folks believe that they have earned a degree based on their extensive job experience. It is possible to get college level credit at the undergraduate level through a sound portfolio evaluation but graduate education is different especially at the doctoral level. This lab chief should have known better.

John

 

Perhaps he might have even been eligible for a British style doctorate for already published material? Vainity can overpower even the most intelligent.

 

The guy was on the local news last night. He said he thought it was a legitimate way for someone towards the end of their career to get recognition for their accomplishments.

 

He may have been better off with the Cal Coast approach?

John

 

I love this statement!!!

Trinity Southern University still maintains a trained staff of registrars in our offices in Argentina and the diplomas are printed and shipped from there however, your diploma will state "Trinity Southern University, Dallas, Texas."

What the???

Cheers,

George

 

Re: I love this statement!!!

I wonder what the guys in the cheap suits in Austin think of this. Texas goes ape-poo over anything unlicensed and their licensing standards appear to be tough.

 

But "using a fake degree is not a crime in Texas".
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/states/texas/arlington/7945731.htm

 

Bill

No wish to be pernickity but 'British style' PhDs are not given for 'previously published work' in the casual manner implied by your use of language.

Your 'previously published work' has to be in refereed journals (your scientific peers not any old magazine - and not even in the Harvard Business Review, which would not qualify as rigorous enough). Your work has to amount together as a 'major contribution to the knowledge base', of which the candidate must also be recognised as a world class authority by his peers (professors at other universities) and he has to be sponsored by a committee of senior professors whose expertise in his field is of unquestioned value, not a bunch of friends who like him or her.

It is not easy to gain a doctorate this way - it requires the complicity in the candidate's claims by many leading authorities, of which membership of a religious or political faith would not count. Even 'Honorary Doctorates' are only awarded by British Universites for outstanding services to a discipline and by vote of the University Senate - a more 'suspicious' bunch of sceptical professors you will not find!

It is not even a 'British style' exclusively. I know of two Noble Prize winners in economics who gained their PhDs from Harvard University (a University in Boston in the USA) by this route, and this was many years before they won their Noble Prizes for their subsequent additional academic work.

The case we are discussing here bears no comparison whatsoever. He got caught and he owned up to his claimed naivete.

 

Bill

No wish to be pernickity but 'British style' PhDs are not given for 'previously published work' in the casual manner implied by your use of language.

Your 'previously published work' has to be in refereed journals (your scientific peers not any old magazine - and not even in the Harvard Business Review, which would not qualify as rigorous enough). Your work has to amount together as a 'major contribution to the knowledge base', of which the candidate must also be recognised as a world class authority by his peers (professors at other universities) and he has to be sponsored by a committee of senior professors whose expertise in his field is of unquestioned value, not a bunch of friends who like him or her.

It is not easy to gain a doctorate this way - it requires the complicity in the candidate's claims by many leading authorities, of which membership of a religious or political faith would not count. Even 'Honorary Doctorates' are only awarded by British Universites for outstanding services to a discipline and by vote of the University Senate - a more 'suspicious' bunch of sceptical professors you will not find!

 

True, but issuing a fake degree in Texas is a crime. Just ask our old buddy Enrique.

 

How would Enrique know, Steve? MIGS never awarded even one (1) degree did they? And, IIRC, the degree would have been awarded by the Mexican university, not MIGS, right?