Karen R. Hitchcock
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
and university administrator, who had troubled leadership positions at an American and a Canadian university. She served as the President of SUNY
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
's University at Albany
University at Albany, SUNY
The State University of New York at Albany, also known as University at Albany, State University of New York, SUNY Albany or simply UAlbany, is a public university located in Albany, Guilderland, and East Greenbush, New York, United States; is the senior campus of the State University of New York ...
in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, from 1996 until her ouster in 2003. She was Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
, in Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
from 2004 until an abrupt resignation in 2008, when she announced her departure in a sudden email to students. After leaving her sudden departure from Queens University, she returned, with husband Murray Blair, to the Albany, NY, area to live in Vischer Ferry. Blair subsequently died in February, 2010.
Education and early career
Hitchcock was born in 1942 in Williston Park, New YorkWilliston Park, New York
Williston Park is an incorporated village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population was 7,287 at the 2010 census.The Village of Williston Park is in the Town of North Hempstead.-Geography:...
, a suburb of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
.
Hitchcock received a B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
from St. Lawrence University
St. Lawrence University
St. Lawrence University is a four-year liberal arts college located in the village of Canton in Saint Lawrence County, New York, United States. It has roughly 2300 undergraduate and 100 graduate students, about equally split between male and female....
in 1964, and a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree in Anatomy
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
from the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
in 1969. As a Postdoctoral Fellow, she did work in pulmonary cell biology at The Webb-Waring Institute for Medical Research at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Hitchcock continued her career at Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
's Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, serving as the George A. Bates Professor of Histology
Histology
Histology is the study of the microscopic anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals. It is performed by examining cells and tissues commonly by sectioning and staining; followed by examination under a light microscope or electron microscope...
and Chair of the Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology in the Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences
Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences
The Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences is one of the eight schools that comprise Tufts University. It is located on the university's health sciences campus in the Chinatown district of Boston, Massachusetts.-Organization and Degree Programs:...
over a course of 15 years. At Tufts, Hitchcock met and, after his divorce, married Murray Blair, her dean at the School of Medicine.
From there she moved to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center offers programs in Allied Health Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. TTUHSC's main campus is in Lubbock, but campuses are also located in Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas, El Paso and the Permian Basin...
and then to the University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
, following Dr. Blair's career moves.
In her early academic career, Hitchcock published in the field of cell and developmental biology. She received the National Science Foundation Professorship for Women in Science and Engineering (1983–84).
University at Albany, SUNY
Following Blair's retirement, Hitchcock joined the University at Albany, part of the State University of New YorkState University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
system, in 1991 as Vice President for Academic Affairs. In 1995, she was named interim President and assumed the Presidency in 1996.
Ethics inquiry
In October 2003, the Albany Times Union reported that tensions between Hitchcock and the SUNY Chancellor had crested, leaving her future with the University uncertain. Hitchcock abruptly resigned from her post, citing recent bids for presidencies at the University of FloridaUniversity of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
and University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
. Media speculation around those failed candidacies centered on the SUNY Chancellor's wresting of the highly-touted Sematech North from Hitchcock's control.
On February 25, 2005, the New York Times reported that Hitchcock faced a state ethics inquiry about allegations that she had offered to deliver a multi-million dollar non-competitive student housing construction contract to a hand-selected developer. In exchange, the developer had supposedly agreed to provide Hitchcock with an endowed professorship which she would hold exclusively once she was forced out of the presidency. This alleged scheme came about because Hitchcock had reportedly been informed by the then-Chancellor of the SUNY system, Robert King, of her pending termination as President. The endowed chair reportedly would have made up the difference between her salary as president and the salary of a biology professor. The ethics allegations were referred to the New York State Ethics Commission by King, with the support of the SUNY Board of Trustees. But before the Commission could convene their inquiry, the investigation became known to Hitchcock, and she abruptly resigned from SUNY Albany
University at Albany, The State University of New York
The State University of New York at Albany, also known as University at Albany, State University of New York, SUNY Albany or simply UAlbany, is a public university located in Albany, Guilderland, and East Greenbush, New York, United States; is the senior campus of the State University of New York ...
, allegedly to escape liability: the New York Ethics Commission being unable to take action against someone who is not a state employee. Safely out of reach of the Ethics Commission, Hitchcock, through her lawyer, claimed to have approached George Pataki, then the Governor of the State of New York, asking for the case to be reopened and investigated in order to "clear her name," a toothless request, knowing that the Ethics Commission had no authority to investigate her after her resignation. Queen's University had hired lawyers to ensure the university was not defamed, and the Queen's search committee claimed they had been satisfied with Hitchcock's version of the story.
While at SUNY Albany, Hitchcock had also co-hosted a weekly radio show called "The Best of Our Knowledge" on an independent local public radio station (WAMC
WAMC
WAMC is a public radio network headquartered in Albany, New York. As of April, 2011, the network comprised 11 transmitters and 11 translators. The organization's legal name is "WAMC" and it is also known as "WAMC Public Radio" or "WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network."In addition, the station...
) founded and run by one of Hitchcock's faculty members at SUNY Albany, Alan S. Chartock. This program was paid for by the SUNY Albany Foundation, using gifts intended for the students and faculty of the university, until Dr. Hitchcock's abrupt departure from that campus. For some time afterward, her participation in the program was paid for by Queen's University. Chartok, a vocal political opponent of then-Governor George Pataki, delivered a number of print and broadcast defenses of Hitchcock, in which Chartock failed to mention his financial reliance on her patronage.
Queen's University
Hitchcock became the Principal of Queen's UniversityQueen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
in July, 2004. Queen's University is one of Canada's most prominent universities, according to several national and international rankings, such as Maclean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
magazine, The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, and The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
Higher Educational Supplement (THES), and Hitchcock was notable both as an American import and as that institution's first female Principal.
At the beginning of her term as Principal, Hitchcock pushed for a major and controversial new infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
project, the Queen's Centre. It was to be the largest project undertaken by a Canadian university to that time, encompassing expanded and upgraded sports facilities, a student life centre and a new academic building. The project had a budget of $230 million, and was scheduled to take nearly a decade to complete. Groundbreaking took place two and a half years later, in February, 2007. Within fourteen months, the massive project would be 20% over budget.
Soon after Hitchcock arrived at Queen's University, she began taking extended leaves of absence, ostensibly to tend to her husband, Murray Blair, who by that time required the use of a wheelchair. Despite campus disgruntlement with her absences, Hitchcock applied for a second five-year term as Queen's principal in January, 2008.
Applies for reappointment, then abruptly resigns
Hitchcock came under increasing fire for her lack of leadership and high degree of invisibility in the Queen's community. She was also criticized by donors, alumni, faculty and community leaders for the growing financial crisis surrounding the lavish Queen's Centre project, which was already some $38 million (nearly 20%) over budget only 14 months after it began its 10-year construction.On March 4, 2008, two months after Hitchcock applied for reappointment, the Assembly of the AMS, the Queen's University undergraduate student government, unanimously passed a motion stating their opposition to her reappointment, forwarding this recommendation to the Queen's University committee studying the matter.
Hitchcock's initial five-year term was slated to end on June 30, 2009. On April 16, 2008, only four months after seeking reappointment and a month after the unanimous rejection by students, Hitchcock suddenly withdrew her request for reappointment in an email to faculty, staff, and students and announced her resignation, to become effective two weeks later, on April 30, 2008, fourteen months before the scheduled end of her term.
In October, 2008, Hitchcock briefly rejoined Queen's University as an unpaid fellow in the university's School of Policy Studies, Centre for the Study of Democracy, which is headed by Thomas Axworthy, before retiring to a farm in upstate New York, at Vischer Ferry, north of Albany.