The University is repaying almost $700,000 in federal grant money after discovering that two former University employees had been swindling a prominent researcher for over three years, administrators acknowledged this week.
The researcher, Kenneth Manton, has been in a state of emotional turmoil since 1998, including hospitalizations, colleagues said. Edward Davison, one of the two employees accused of taking advantage of Manton, was arrested in April 2001 for improperly using a University credit card, but Davison posted bail and fled with Christopher Fowler. Police have not yet found them.
"We had two employees that basically exploited a person who was having serious difficulties," Provost Peter Lange said.
Manton, who is nationally known for his research on aging, was removed as director of the Center for Demographic Studies last spring but remains its principal investigator, in charge of $3.3 million in federal grants. Professor of Sociology Kenneth Land has replaced Manton as director.
A University investigation last year into Manton's grant expenditures found a pattern of significant irregularities and inadequate documentation from 1998 to 2001, said Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations John Burness. The problems went unnoticed by senior administrators until April 2001, when an anonymous faculty member, unaffiliated with the center, complained about Manton's performance to Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences William Chafe. Additionally, Manton approached police that month to say he had been swindled by Davison and Fowler, The New York Times reported.
"We did not know about some of the personnel problems and did not have any particular reason to audit [before April 2001]," Burness said.
However, Professor Emeritus Max Woodbury, who has worked at the center and mentored Manton since 1971, said he voiced concerns about Manton to Chafe about six months earlier, and that Chafe did not respond to his complaints. Chafe deferred comment to Burness.
"In the course of that discussion Woodbury talked about his deteriorating relationship with Ken Manton," Burness wrote in an e-mail, "but Bill [Chafe] says there was nothing in that conversation which gave him a sense that Manton was experiencing the kinds of personal or institutional difficulties that subsequently surfaced in April of 2001."
Lange said the University was unable to detect problems at the center for two reasons. "It's quite clear that the members of the center who were aware of what was going on did not report it to their superiors," he said. "We also did not have an adequate degree of supervision."
Woodbury said "people were just plain afraid" to report the situation.
Manton did not renew grant contracts for Woodbury, nor for Associate Research Professor Elizabeth Corder or her husband, Research Professor Larry Corder--three of the grant team's members.
Larry Corder said that although Manton released 60 percent of the center's faculty in a short period of time, the staff was not sure there was a reportable problem. "Where do you draw the line between eccentric behavior and something worse?" he said. "When dealing with a guy like Ken who's always been difficult to work with, how can you tell it's gone too far?"
Manton did not respond to interview requests.
After the investigation, the University informed the National Institute for Aging, which awarded the grants, about its discoveries and offered to pay back $682,000 in improperly spent funds. It also conducted a series of random audits in other departments and concluded that the problems were isolated.
"The University has made some major modifications across the entire University to ensure something like this couldn't happen again," said Vice Provost for Research James Siedow, but he did not give details.
The University placed unique controls on the Center for Demographic Studies after the investigation, particularly on the procurement cards used for center purchases, and Chafe has continually been reviewing the center's finances. An internal audit a year later found that the controls were mostly effective.
As principal investigator on his grants and scientific director of the center, Manton maintains "broad authority" on personnel matters for the grants, but he is no longer allowed to exercise administrative and financial controls, Lange said. Both Land and Siedow also have oversight over Manton.
In addition, Manton now works in a separate building from much of his staff and must give 30 minutes' notice before visiting the other building to prepare staff members who feel uncomfortable in his presence.
"I believe there are serious issues about Ken Manton's ability to manage people," Larry Corder said.
Other employees wrote a letter defending Manton's leadership. "While some may question his style and personal approach, those of us signing this letter honor and respect Dr. Manton not only for the brilliant mind that he is, but also for such human qualities as gentleness, sense of humor, respect for those with whom he works (regardless of gender), caring and sensibility," the 22 members of the center who signed the letter wrote.
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