UPDATED POST
John Deasy, superintendent of Prince Georges County (MD) public schools has resigned his post to become deputy directory of education for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Deasy received a PhD in 2004 after enrolling for 9-credits in one semester at the the University of Louisville. The University of Louisville recently named a blue-ribbon panel to investigate the awarding of the degree.
Deasy, had previously been involved in directing a $375,000 grant to a university research center that was run by Robert Felner, who was Deasy’s PhD supervisor and at the time dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville. Felner is the focus of a ongoing federal criminal investigation.
But not over the controversy. Instead, John Deasy has become Deputy Director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Courier-Journal: School chief linked to Felner will leave for new job
Says controversy over doctorate unrelated
John Deasy, who got a doctorate from the University of Louisville after being enrolled only one semester, is leaving his job as superintendent of the Prince George’s County (Md.) Public Schools to become deputy director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Sentinel: PGCPS eyeing Deasy degree investigation
Prince George’s County Public Schools officials supported Superintendent John Deasy despite news of an unusually speedy doctorate, but said their legal counsel was following the University of Louisville’s investigation.
Deasy’s doctorate was called into question after a federal probe into former University of Louisville Dean Robert Felner revealed that Deasy received the degree in one-fourth the time slated by university policy. Felner, the focal point of the federal investigation, was dean at the time.