A history professor at Arizona State University who was demoted last year following an inquiry into plagiarism accusations has agreed to resign but will continue to be paid more than $200,000 in salary over the next 16 months, The Arizona Republic reports.
University officials released a statement on Friday saying the professor, Matthew C. Whitaker, had “voluntarily resigned from his position as associate professor and co-director of the Center for Race and Democracy.”
Mr. Whitaker had been demoted in June 2015 from full professor to associate professor, and from director to co-director of the center, after a university-commissioned investigation found “significant issues” with the content of a recent book of his, Peace Be Still: Modern Black America From World War II to Barack Obama.
The university placed Mr. Whitaker on leave in September 2015, pending a review of his conduct, after officials with the City of Phoenix also raised plagiarism allegations against his consulting company, the Whitaker Group. The company had been under contract to provide cultural-awareness training to the Phoenix police; it terminated the contract but denied the city’s allegations.
Under a settlement agreement with the university, Mr. Whitaker will resign his tenured position, effective May 17, 2017, and until then will continue to receive his salary of $153,530 a year, plus benefits. He will also receive $25,000 in attorneys’ fees. It is not clear if he will have any duties with the university during this time. The agreement states that he has no authority to act for or on behalf of Arizona State, and he is required to remove all personal items from his office and return all university property.
Mr. Whitaker declined to comment to the newspaper about his resignation.
