A scandal seems to have developed at the University of Galway concerning Tom Felle, an associate professor at said University’s Department of Journalism and Media who was Head of the Department until last year, and who has been described as “Dr Tom Felle” on the university’s website. Mr Felle – who is, ironically, an expert in disinformation and “fake news” – claimed to have a doctorate in journalism from City, University of London (now City St George’s), where he used to work as a senior lecturer, but this is false – he has never been awarded a PhD from that institution. There seems to have been a lack of due diligence in Galway.
All this reminds me of 17 years ago, in October 2009, when I posted an item about Mark Brake, a Professor at the University of Glamorgan, who falsely claimed on a funding application that he had a PhD from Cardiff University.
(The University of Glamorgan no longer exists as such, as in April 2013 it merged with University of Wales, Newport, to form the University of South Wales.)
I thought for old times’ sake I would post the Brake piece again. The following blog post led to me being threatened with a libel action. My response was to pass on the name and address of my solicitor with the message “Go ahead. Make my day” (or words to that effect). I never heard back. Everything I said was (a) true and (b) in the public domain anyway.
This morning there was some discussion in the Department about how many academics there might with fictitious credentials. I am not sure recruiters actually check degree awards and the like. They should do.
