July 28, 2023
The Resignation of Stanford’s President Shows the Importance of Student Journalism
By Peter Lucas
An interview with the Daily reporter Theo Baker, who helped expose manipulation of scientific data in research papers by Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne.
(David Madison / Getty Images)
On July 19, Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne resigned from his position after an extensive investigation by the university’s student-run newspaper exposed manipulation in his scientific research.
As a rising junior at Stanford and an editor for The Stanford Daily, I watched my fellow classmates work diligently to report such intense and impactful coverage that directly questioned university leadership. Along with our reporting and editing team, Daily reporter Theo Baker worked for months to produce an article in November 2022 exposing that Tessier-Lavigne was being investigated for scientific misconduct after manipulated imagery was found in scientific research that he was the lead author on.
Immediately after this initial article was published, the university announced their own investigation into the allegations. Stanford determined that “Tessier-Lavigne failed to decisively and forthrightly correct mistakes in the scientific record,” ultimately leading to his resignation. Tessier-Lavigne will now have to retract or issue lengthy corrections to five widely-cited papers.
