Harvard revokes tenure of business professor over alleged data fraud

Harvard University has revoked the tenure of a Harvard Business School professor after an internal probe concluded she had committed academic misconduct.

Harvard revoked professor Francesca Gino's tenure last week, marking the first time the Ivy League school has done such since the 1940s, according to the Harvard Crimson newspaper. Tenure essentially protects a professor from being fired.

Gino is a behavioral scientist who became famous for studying honesty and ethical behavior. She was a prominent researcher in her field and received more than $1 million in compensation in 2018 and 2019, when she was the fifth-highest paid employee at Harvard.

In August 2021, the blog Data Colada, run by a group of behavioral scientists who scrutinize academic research, alleged that data in a paper Gino co-authored was fraudulent, leading to the retraction of the paper the following month. 

Harvard's business school launched an 18-month investigation in 2022 that determined Gino had committed academic misconduct.

Gino was placed on unpaid administrative leave, barred from campus, and her named professorship was revoked in June 2023, the same month that Data Colada accused her of committing data fraud in three additional research papers she co-authored. The next month, Harvard initiated a formal review of Gino's tenure.

In August 2023, Gino filed a $25 million defamation suit against the university, the business school's dean, and Data Colada bloggers. The lawsuit alleges a policy established by the business school in August 2021 regarding research misconduct was created solely for Gino, as it was after allegations of data fraud were first brought against her.

In September 2024, a federal judge dismissed Gino’s defamation but allowed her breach of contract claims against Harvard to move forward regarding her alleged subjection to unfair disciplinary actions in violation of the university's tenure policies. 

The following month, Gino filed a motion to amend her lawsuit to include Title VII and discrimination claims.

Gino has not responded to requests for comment from multiple news outlets.

In March 2024, Gino wrote on a website she created regarding her lawsuit, "Harvard shared their case. And while my lawyers have discouraged me from speaking out, I just need to say that I did not — ever — engage in academic fraud.

"Once I have the opportunity to prove this in the court of law, with the support of experts I was denied through Harvard’s investigation process, you’ll see why their case is so weak and that these are bogus allegations," her statement continued.