LEO Weekly: Felner’s follies – Former U of L dean Robert Felner racked up grievances, not grants
When Robert Felner arrived at the University of Louisville in 2003, he brought with him a reputation as a “rainmaker.” University administrators praised the former dean as a change agent, citing him as the driving force behind a spike in grant money at the school.
In fact, even after federal prosecutors began investigating Felner for possibly mishandling hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money, university president James Ramsey repeatedly reminded critics that under the former dean’s leadership, the College of Education and Human Development saw “an increase in grants and contracts from $4.2 million … to more than $40 million.”
But a recent review of public records obtained by LEO Weekly reveals Felner is directly responsible for only a fraction of that windfall.
It appears Felner was only personally involved — as either director or co-director of specific grant proposals — in bringing in about $1 million in total grants during his tenure, according to documents the university turned over in response to an open records request. That total includes a $694,400 No Child Left Behind grant the feds are now investigating. Most of that grant was funneled to a defunct nonprofit headed by a longtime friend and former associate of Felner.
Follow
