Plagiarism Scandal at Ohio U. Claims a Department Chairman

The fallout from a remarkable plagiarism scandal at Ohio University continues. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the chairman of the mechanical-engineering department, Jay Gunasekera, is stepping down in the wake of an internal investigation that revealed plagiarism on theses and dissertations by dozens of graduate engineering students over more than 20 years, apparently with the acquiescence of their faculty advisers (The Chronicle, April 3).

The story is far from over. A university committee that investigated the matter also recommended that Mr. Gunasekera and another professor be fired (The Chronicle, June 2). That professor, Bhavin V. Mehta, has announced that he is leaving the university, but Mr. Gunasekera remains on the faculty. The university is also looking into the possibility of revoking degrees awarded to some of the copycats … er, graduate students.