Diabetic and tenure decision (#99; Topic E)

A couple of days ago, I attended a lecture on diabetes in a nearby assisted-living facility -- I am a pre-diabetic. About 15 minutes into the lecture, on the consequences of a severe diabetic case, was a slide showing "amputation." At this point, I could no longer concentrate -- my mind wandered to an event 40+ years ago. Following my year as Chairman of the Faculty Council at Cal State Fullerton, I was promoted to a full professor in 1963 (at age 34); I was also appointed the chair of our school's Retention and Promotion Committee. An assistant professor, who joined the faculty in the same year as I (when the university was brand new), was, after four years in the rank, up for tenure/promotion; the committee voted against it. He was, of course, dejected, so was his department chairman. The latter came to see me, saying that, prior to the committee's decision, he did not want to intervene; but, now that a decision had been reached, he wanted me to know that that assistant professor was a diabetic and that his scholarship status was due to his physical disability. At that point, I professed ignorance and felt that perhaps the committee was too harsh on him -- his was a marginal case and, were I aware of his condition, the scale could very well tip in his favor; in any case, since his case would come up again the following year, the committee and I would certainly take this new information into consideration. As it turned out, in a couple of months' time, one of his legs was amputed; in another month or so, he passed away. He was never promoted to an associate professor, and the committee never had another chance to vote on his case. Over the years, I always regretted this no-promotion decision and felt that it contributed to his rapid physical deterioration and untimely death, in his early 30s, about my age at the time.
Posted at 10:23 pm, Saturday, March 4, 2006