This past week, Doug Lynch, vice dean of the graduate school of education at the University of Pennsylvania and a former member of the NYU faculty, quietly resigned following an investigation concerning the authenticity of his claimed doctoral degree. Following an article published by the Philadelphia Inquirer, the University of Pennsylvania launched an investigation about Lynch’s academic past and he was placed on leave. Soon after, he resigned.
Lynch claimed to have a master’s and doctorate degrees from Columbia University, and to have obtained them in 2005 and 2007. Columbia officials revealed that Lynch did in fact have a master’s degree, but did not obtain it until 2010. He is apparently part of Columbia’s Ph.D program, but has yet to finish his degree.
