Reprimanded Scientist Sues Colleagues For Defamation
Posted on: Tuesday, 14 October 2008, 13:20 CDT
Rusi P. Taleyarkhan, a Purdue University scientist is suing two other faculty members for alleged defamation.
Taleyarkhan, a professor of nuclear engineering, was reprimanded over claims he produced nuclear fusion in tabletop experiments.
Now he has filed a complaint in Tippecanoe Superior Court that Lefteri Tsoukalas and Tatjana Jevremovic made false and malicious public statements that led to "a successful campaign to ruin Taleyarkhan and his sonofusion research."
In August, the university denied an appeal by Taleyarkhan and stripped him of his named professorship in nuclear engineering. Purdue spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg said the university had no comment because it wasn't a party in the lawsuit.
Purdue is not a defendant in the lawsuit but could be added later, Taleyarkhan's attorney, John Lewis, said Monday.
The lawsuit alleges that Tsoukalas, a professor of nuclear engineering, and Jevremovic, an associate professor, made statements accusing Taleyarkhan of research misconduct to reporters from Nature and The New York Times.
In 2002, Taleyarkhan reported that he had made nuclear fusion using a tabletop experiment that collapsed tiny bubbles in a liquid with powerful ultrasound vibrations. Scientists have long sought a simple way to produce fusion in hopes of harnessing it as an energy source.
In a report to Purdue in July, an investigative committee found that Taleyarkhan falsified the research record twice: He arranged for one of his students to appear as co-author of a paper to create the appearance that the student had witnessed the experiment, then announced that the paper was an independent confirmation.
He was allowed to remain a faculty member but forbidden to serve as a major professor for graduate students for at least three years.
Taleyarkhan is seeking unspecified damages for defamation, harassment and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
Related Articles
- ECOtality's Dr. Jerry Y.S. Lin Appointed Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Arizona State University
- Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) Release Including Reaction to ACS Report Crediting Early Detection for Drop in Colon Cancer Deaths From A. Mark Fendrick, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan and David Johnson, MD, Presi
- "A Hand Hold for A Little Bit": Factors Facilitating the Success of Community College Transfer Students to a Large Research University
- K-State Professor Using Satellite Imagery to Research How Changes in Land Use, Land Cover Affect Human Health, Food Security
- ADDING MULTIMEDIA MIT Academic Leader Tapped As Lehigh University's Next President; Dr. Alice P. Gast Has Led Research at One of the World's Leading Research Universities Since 2001
- MIT Academic Leader Tapped As Lehigh University's Next President; Dr. Alice P. Gast Has Led Research at One of the World's Leading Research Universities Since 2001
- Purdue Probes 'Tabletop Fusion' Study
- Philip Bray; Harvard professor of physics at Brown, researcher
- Purdue Engineers: Metal Nano-Bumps Could Improve Artificial Body Parts
- The University of Texas Deploys Dell Supercomputer for Environmental, Engineering and Technology Research
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds