Harvard removes professor’s lifetime job security due to rare accusations of manipulating data

Harvard University has revoked the tenure of Francesca Gino, a professor of business administration, who was accused of data fraud.

Gino has been facing accusations for nearly four years, as reported by The Harvard Crimson. The renowned researcher, known for her work on honesty and ethical conduct, has been alleged to have manipulated data to support her research hypotheses.

A Harvard spokesperson informed Fox News Digital via email that the revocation of Gino’s tenure is a rare occurrence and has not happened in recent decades.

Prior to the revocation of her tenure, Gino spent two years battling to maintain her position at the Ivy League institution. According to The Harvard Crimson, she was among the top five highest-paid employees at Harvard from 2018 to 2019, earning over $1 million annually.

Banners on the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg)

The blog’s authors shared their concerns with Harvard Business School in the fall of 2021. 

Gino, who filed a lawsuit against the blog authors and Harvard, according to The Hill, with parts of the lawsuit still ongoing. 

A view of the statue of John Harvard on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer)

She last publicly declared her innocence on her website. “I did not commit academic fraud. I did not manipulate data to produce a particular result. I did not falsify data to bolster any result. I did not commit the offense I am accused of. Period,” she wrote. 

Fox News Digital made attempts to reach Gino for comment, but did not immediately hear back.