The president of Albright College, who had been accused of making misleading statements about his academic and publishing record on his résumé, abruptly resigned late last week. Col. Henry A. Zimon cited personal and family reasons for his decision, effective Friday night, to step down from his job at the Pennsylvania college.
The past disputes over Colonel Zimon’s credentials had nothing to do with his resignation, college officials said. The decision “was a surprise to the board and has nothing to do with previous issues,” said Barbara J. Marshall, Albright’s spokeswoman. “The college has been in great shape for the last few years. We have set ambitious goals, and we met them.”
Salvatore M. Cutrona, chairman of the college’s Board of Trustees, praised Colonel Zimon for leading the institution’s growth. Mr. Cutrona said that, under Colonel Zimon, the college had set records for both the number of applicants and the number of students. And the college has built up its endowment to more than $40-million, also a record, Mr. Cutrona said.
“We were sorry to learn that Dr. Zimon is leaving,” Mr. Cutrona said, adding that the controversies over the president’s résumé had been put to rest. “He has executed most of the objectives the board put before him,” the chairman said.
Albright College’s provost, David C. Stineback, was named acting president, and the board is beginning a formal search to replace Colonel Zimon permanently.
Questions about Colonel Zimon’s record arose in the fall of 1999, when an article in The Chronicle presented evidence that supported some faculty members’ suspicions about the accuracy of some credentials on the résumé that Colonel Zimon had provided to the United Methodist-affiliated college before he was hired. Colonel Zimon had become president on July 1, 1999.
The credentials included two books he listed as forthcoming for publication, although neither manuscript had a publisher. Colonel Zimon, who served 29 years in the U.S. Army and was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal before taking over as president of Albright, said that he had provided further explanations of the credentials on the résumé to the presidential-search committee before he was hired.
Colonel Zimon’s résumé also said that he had been a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and at its business school, and that he had taught “seminars” at the Kennedy School. But Harvard officials said he had never held such a fellowship at either school and that he had made only a one-time presentation at the Kennedy School. Colonel Zimon also said that he had served on the board of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies. But officials of that center said that it has no board.
More controversy ensued in 2001, when Colonel Zimon, four other administrators, and a faculty member who had served on the search committee started termination proceedings against a tenured faculty member who had been an outspoken critic of Colonel Zimon. That professor, Achal Mehra, had vigorously protested the hiring of Colonel Zimon, citing concerns about the president’s résumé. Complaints against Mr. Mehra were dropped later in 2001, and the proceedings to fire him were canceled.
On Friday, Colonel Zimon issued a statement saying that he was pleased with his tenure at Albright. “I regret this sudden departure,” Colonel Zimon said, “but leave feeling proud that our team has accomplished nearly all of the major goals that the Board of Trustees set before me in 1999, goals that a few years ago seemed completely out of reach.”
Colonel Zimon did not elaborate any further on his reasons for leaving or indicate what he planned to do now.
Background articles from The Chronicle:
