Board To Decide On Firing Of Internationally Acclaimed UND Professor

The North Dakota Board of Higher Education will decide today whether to uphold the firing of a Fathy Messiha, a tenured professor and former chairman of UND's pharmacology department. Meeting in Dickinson, the board will consider Messiha's appeal of his 1993 dismissal by UND President Kendall Baker.

In his appeal, Messiha strongly disputed the charges against him and argued the university had failed to follow the proper procedures for removing him. He included evaluations in which students praised his teaching abilities; he noted he earned international recognition for his research on alcohol use. Messiha chaired the pharmacology department from April 1, 1987 to Sept. 15, 1988, when the dean of the UND Medical School removed him from the position. The committee held hearings in March 1994, a meeting Messiha had asked to delay. The panel also recommended his dismissal, and Messiha appealed to the Board of Higher Education.

Grand Forks Herald, September 21, 1995

Professor Fathy Messiha is an internationally acclaimed scientist.