Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced that he will resign on August 31 due to allegations of fraud and unethical conduct related to his research and papers.

According to the allegations, Dr. Tessier-Lavigne failed to make corrections to his papers when incorrect data was found by members of the scientific community in 2001, the early 2010s, 2015, 2016, and March 2021. The scientists then shared their findings with PubPeer, an online collaboration platform for the scientific community.

[Tessier-Lavigne denies having committed fraud or misconduct in these instances, and a committee investigating the errors largely acquitted him of everything except poor management. However, since that’s precisely what a university president is supposed to provide, his resignation makes sense — and gives Stanford a chance to turn the page, too. — Ed]