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MSU MEMO

November 11, 2002    Volume 27, Issue 15

Speaker to highlight academic whistle-blowing issues

Carolyn R. Phinney

Carolyn R. Phinney

A former university researcher who won a landmark 1997 legal decision regarding the disclosure of academic corruption speaks Nov. 11 at Mississippi State.

"Whistle-Blowing in Science and Academe" will be the title of Carolyn R. Phinney's 3:30 p.m. public presentation in the third-floor faculty lounge of Colvard Union. Her visit is sponsored by the Women's Studies Program.

Phinney, an Orinda, Calif., resident, is a former research psychologist who became the first known person in the field of science to prevail in a lawsuit involving fraud accusations against another scientist. She received a $1.6 million judgment against the University of Michigan, where they both worked, for having retaliated against her in violation of a whistle-blowers' protection act.

For the past 12 years, Phinney has been a national advocate for the public disclosure of academic corruption. In addition to testifying before a congressional commission, she has worked closely on the issue with senior staff members of the U.S. House of Representatives' Science Committee.

Her MSU address will include a historical overview of scientific whistle-blowing, highlights of her Michigan lawsuit and suggestions for ways universities can better uphold scientific integrity.

For more information, telephone Dr. Carolyn Adams-Price at 325-7658.