Who Is Francesca Gino? Professor's Harvard Fraud Dispute Explained
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Harvard Business School (HBS) professor Francesca Gino has become the first tenured professor to be fired from the institution since the university created its tenure policies in the 1940s.
Gino, who was placed on academic leave in 2023, has been accused of falsifying data for her research on honesty and ethical behavior. She has denied the claims on her website, saying: "I absolutely did not commit academic fraud."
Gino is now suing the university after being banned from campus and from teaching, saying that the allegations and investigation against her were not made in good faith. She also claims that the "Interim Policy" which was created specifically to address her accusations was a breach of her contract as a tenured professor.
In 2024, Judge Myong J. Joun dismissed her initial defamation claims against the university but allowed her to continue with her accusations that the university breached her contract through their disciplinary actions, as reported in the Harvard Crimson.
A lawyer for Gino has been contacted via email for comment.
An academic building is seen on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States on May 24, 2025.
An academic building is seen on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States on May 24, 2025.
Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua/VCG via AP Images
Who Is Francesca Gino?
Francesca Gino worked as a professor at HBS between 2010 and 2023, and in 2018 was the fifth highest-paid professor at the university. Originally from Italy, Gino was known in academia as a pioneer in the field of ethics and decision-making.
She produced more than 140 academic articles and two books on leadership, as well as being featured in several HBS books. She also worked as a leadership coach for people in several sectors including the Boston Celtics.
Her 2018 book Rebel Talent focused on the idea of "positive deviance" at work, researching how people who rebel via curiosity and drive can have a beneficial impact on their workforces and partnerships.
What Are the Fraud Allegations?
Gino was first accused of falsifying data in 2021 by a website called Data Colada which analyses studies. Data Colada accused Gino and a team of researchers of misstating findings in a 2012 study on honesty. The paper was then retracted.
According to Gino's filings against Harvard, Data Colada pointed to four studies authored by Gino in total that they claim created "concerns about perceived anomalies and "fraud" in the data."
In 2023, Gino was placed on leave by the university following an internal investigation into the claims against her. Data Colada's collection of evidence against Gino was compiled in a September 2023 blog post on their site. She has denied all allegations of fraud and has said her inability to access data and information from Harvard is making it difficult for her to prove her case.
Her firing comes after former Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned from her position in 2024 following accusations of academic plagiarism. And, amid the ongoing lawsuits and debates between Harvard and the Trump Administration.
What Has Francesca Gino said
Gino has filed suit against the university and has also posted to her website detailing her stance on the accusations against her.
"There is one thing I know for sure: 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," said Gino.
She has not spoken out yet on being formally fired from her tenure position.
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