Comments on: Teesside doubt Prof Holford’s nutritional expertise?

By: Patrick Holford and His Appropriate Title « Holford Myths: what is the problem with Nutritionist Patrick Holford?

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 18:01:03 +0000

[...] 24, 2008 HolfordWatch wrote up the intriguing story of the proper form of title for Professor Patrick Holford of Teesside University. The FOIA documents show a story of dissent from some quarters and some stern words to Patrick [...]

By: dvnutrix

dvnutrix — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:01:47 +0000

Dr Aust, one feels that older relatives would have launched into a nudge-nudge, wink-wink rendition of Honours are cheap today, cheaper than yesterday to the tune of La Donna e mobile.

By: dvnutrix

dvnutrix — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:51:10 +0000

D McIlroy – interesting exercise.

What is particularly odd about the actual meeting is that VC Henderson has distributed a letter in which he claims:

I was not personally present at the meeting of the Professorial Conferment Committee (PCC) where Mr Holford’s case for conferment was discussed.

However, the minutes for the meeting mark him as present. I don’t know what difference that might make to the outcome in your exercise, of course.

Beyond that, the latest round of FOIA disclosures raise serious questions about the financial argument. It seems that the the case for financial benefits was not based on a solid foundation.

By: DMcILROY

DMcILROY — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:07:44 +0000

I don’t have any insider info on this question, but my students did a re-enactment of the appointments committee, based on the documents I got from David Colquhoun’s website.
The two sciencey committe members were against the appointment, but PH’s main advocate put forward the arguments that a) having such a high-profile visiting professor would be good for the university’s image, b) he is an expert in his field (look at all the books he’s published) and c) he would bring more funding to Teesside from his nutrition business.
Despite a good one-liner from the science side “Cure AIDS by eating an orange – what kind of expert is that?”, the committee chair was swayed by the financial argument, and gave the casting vote in favor.

By: Patrick Holford -a professor?

Patrick Holford -a professor? — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:30:57 +0000

[...] There are comments on some of these documents here. [...]

By: Dr Aust

Dr Aust — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:38:16 +0000

I like it… I can see the headline now:

“Just how cheap can you get a visiting Professorship?”

Or how about:

“Cash for (academic) honours”

By: jonhw

jonhw — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:13:57 +0000

yes – there’s some more bits and pieces still to come. It sounds like Teesside have had some really interesting discussions around this appointment.

By: dvnutrix

dvnutrix — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:19:37 +0000

We may have some interesting titbits to share about that studentship in the near future but it is a remarkably poor faustian bargain (to use a Dr Aust observation).

The funds seem miserly when one considers the overhead costs of library access etc.

One major concern is the prospect of being supervised by Professor Holford – given the quality of his own research and innate understanding of the delicacies of statistical analysis.

By: draust

draust — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:13:13 +0000

Good spot, Wulfstan. The Cactus Clinic definitely looks like the place.

No wonder the real scientists at Teeside are spitting tacks. Some guy in Soc Sci gets his buddy Pa-tricky a visiting appointment, and the real nutrition people get mocking emails from all their mates.

I’d certainly be banging my head on the desk if I were them.

By: superburger

superburger — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:51:21 +0000

12.5k doesn’t get you much, either. – a PhD students’ stipend, but without a single penny towards their overheads / costs?

0.33 of a postdoc?