Texas District Court Judge Rules UT Austin Lacks Authority To Invalidate Graduate’s Degree
From Chemical And Engineering News
On Feb. 11, Judge Karin Crump in Travis County, Texas District Court issued a ruling in a case between the University of Texas at Austin and Dr. Suvi Orr.
Orr studied at UT Austin from 2003 to 2008 under Professor Stephen Martin of Chemistry; she was granted her doctorate in 2008 after successfully defending her thesis and now works as the Senior Principal Scientist for Pfizer.
However, six years after receiving it, UT Austin informed Orr they were invalidating her thesis; the school stated the basis for the action was research misconduct.
According to Chemical and Engineering News, the University cited an Organic Letters paper which were published in 2011 and retracted in 2012 because the synthesis could not be reproduced.
The February 11 ruling states the University “lack express authority to revoke S.O.’s degree” and “lack implied authority to revoke S.O.’s degree.”
The full story and coverage of the case can be read here.
