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Harvard Revokes Tenure of Professor Francesca Gino Over Fabricated Data

Her $25 million lawsuit alleges that Harvard’s bespoke investigation policies violated her tenure rights

An academic building is seen on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States on May 24, 2025.
Harvard University campus on May 24, 2025 in Cambridge, Mass.
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Overview

  • Data Colada researchers raised concerns in 2021 about anomalies in Gino’s studies, prompting an 18-month Harvard probe that found evidence of data fabrication.
  • Harvard placed Gino on administrative leave in June 2023 before the Harvard Corporation stripped her of tenure this May, marking the first such firing since the 1940s.
  • Before the scandal, Gino was a renowned behavioral economist at Harvard Business School, authoring over 140 papers on decision making and earning more than $1 million per year.
  • She has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and filed a $25 million lawsuit accusing Harvard of breaching its policies and Data Colada of defamation.
  • A federal judge dismissed her defamation claims but allowed her breach-of-contract suit to move forward in Massachusetts court.