Michael Thomas resigns from Department Chair position after allegations of “abusive treatment”

Bengal Staff

On April 7th, The Bengal Newspaper was sent a copy of a letter by an unnamed source that was written and sent out by Michael Thomas on April 6th. The letter states that Thomas will be resigning as chair at the end of the Spring 2020 semester.

“This follows multiple discussions with the president, provost, and dean, in which we all agreed that maintaining the health of our department and building on the progress made by the department in the past three years is the most important consideration. In this context, I offered to step down in order to preserve this progress, and the dean agreed,” the letter states.

The letter then goes on to state that, “The president met with a group of people who felt they had been wronged during my leadership in the department. Some of the complaints had been dismissed in the grievance process; others hadn’t been submitted to any grievance process; others were not handled according to ISU policies & procedures by the appropriate offices and were effectively in grievance limbo. I had not been notified of any of these complaints in accordance with those policies & procedures.”

“In determining the results of this matter, the University took into account the welfare and impact to the individuals involved, the health of and impact to the Department of Biological Sciences, the overall best interests of the University, and all of our students,” said Stuart Summers, Associate Vice President.

Previous to Thomas resigning, three sources who will remain unnamed came forward to speak about the alleged abusive treatment they experienced by Thomas. The sources fear putting their names on the record because they allege that he has a history of retaliation.

While none of the unnamed sources experienced every example outlined in the original anonymous letter sent to The Bengal personally, between the three of them, the contents of the letter were accurate to their experiences.

“We are not looking for retribution against Michael Thomas or compensation,” said an unnamed source. “There is no way to compensate for the abuse that we’ve suffered.”

The sources had a good first impression of Michael Thomas, and thought he’d be a great chair.

“I thought he was friendly and likeable,” said an unnamed source.

The three unnamed sources are the spokespeople for an even larger group of people who allege that they have experienced abusive treatment by Thomas. They reached out to The Bengal to give an official statement.

“Over a dozen individuals have identified themselves and come forward to provide statements and evidence regarding Michael Thomas’ negative behavior.”

Thomas became chair of the Biology department in March 2017, and the sources allege the abuse started a few months after that.

“There was no event that would condone his change in behavior,” said an unnamed source. “His behavior has inflicted emotional trauma on me and others.”

The unnamed sources allege that Thomas has a temper that made them scared for their safety.

“I am fearful for my safety everyday going into the biology building,” said an unnamed source. A different unnamed source stated that they felt ‘severely threatened’ by Thomas.

“He has an explosive temper where you can be just talking to him and then all of a sudden he goes into a rage and turns red and raises his voice over trivial issues,” said another unnamed source.

However, not everyone in the Biology Department feels the same way about Thomas. Shortly after publication, Ken Aho, a doctorate in Biology and associate professor, sent a letter expressing support for Thomas, saying his experience was in “diametric opposition” to the views expressed in the letter.

Aho met Thomas in 2008 and has frequently professionally interacted with him since then, including co-authorship in lab publications.

“In my view, faculty attitudes and the general departmental mien have improved dramatically under his chairmanship,” Aho stated. 

Aho said that pay discrepancies that “persisted for decades under previous Biological Sciences chairs” are finally being addressed and that a vision for the future of the department is being “cooperatively developed and implemented.”

“I have found Dr. Thomas to be a supportive mentor for his graduate students, and a tireless and effective advocate for the Biological Sciences faculty as department chair,” Aho said.

Thomas ended the letter by stating, “I am so very proud of what we’ve accomplished together in three years: rejuvenating and diversifying our faculty, making progress on salary equity, vastly increasing our research productivity, creating a strategic plan & using this plan to develop a research-training theme, and renewing our focus on student success. I plan to use this transition to move my research in new and interesting directions and explore other opportunities as they arise. The job of department chair is the hardest on campus, even more so given the size and diversity of our department and the state it was in when I took the job. But it is also very gratifying and I wish the next Chair and the department all the best as we move forward.”

Scott Snyder, Dean of the Biology Department, has asked Janet Loxterman, current associate department chair, to transition into the role of department chair.

“The new chair will need to provide stability as well as vision, will need to represent the department to the college and the university, and will need to work closely with the dean in the difficult months to come. I believe that Dr. Janet Loxterman is uniquely qualified to fulfill these needs and I look forward to discussing this with the faculty in our meeting today,” Snyder said.

“We are confident that she will be effective in ensuring the department remains healthy and productive,” Summers said. “Further, it is clear that, in this matter, our existing processes and procedures for handling complaints were not followed. This did not serve our institution and was, in fact, a disservice to us all. This will be addressed. Idaho State takes the health and well-being of all faculty, staff and students seriously. Personnel details related to this incident will not be released. The University considers this matter closed.”