Scripps Faculty Wants President Out

Some faculty members of the Scripps Research Institute are wary of a possible merger with USC and would like to oust the organization’s president.

kerry grens
| 1 min read

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WIKIMEDIA, ELIFE SCIENCES PUBLICATIONS, LTDThe University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles and the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla are discussing some form of partnership, and Scripps faculty members are not happy about it. U-T San Diego reported on Friday (July 4) that professors there have begun “an unprecedented faculty revolt” to oust Scripps’s president, Michael Marletta.

Last week, all of the institute’s department chairs and its dean sent a letter to the chair of the board of trustees expressing their lack of confidence in Marletta. At issue is a possible merger with or takeover by USC, which faculty members said they want dropped. Additionally, members have said that Marletta has not done enough to buoy Scripps’s sinking financial situation.

Marletta told U-T San Diego, “there are more than 250 faculty members at Scripps. It is impractical to involve every single one of them in a time-consuming and exhaustive review of options for the institute’s future.”

A partnership with USC may help the financially troubled TSRI, which is projecting a $21 million operating deficit this year. Peter Farrell, a Scripps trustee, said, ...

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  • kerry grens

    Kerry Grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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