Chichilnisky versus Columbia
July 26th, 2007 by WaltIn a post on his weblog, Michael Greinecker mentioned some applications of homology to economics. While aimlessly websurfing for more information, I came across the homepage of Graciela Chichilnisky, a mathematical economist who has extensively applied topological techniques to economic questions. Chichilnisky has written nearly 200 articles, and includes PDFs on her site.
On a less happy note, Chichilnisky also links to a site dedicated to detailing her problems with Columbia University, where she is a tenured professor. Chichilnisky had successfully sued Columbia on the grounds of sex discrimination in the 90s. The two parties are now back in court over an alleged pattern of retaliation on the part of Columbia. An article on her experiences with the reviewing process also makes depressing reading.
July 27th, 2007 at 5:58 am
While reading the material on Chichilnisky’s site, one might want to keep in mind that:
1. There may be another side to this story.
2. You may be unlikely to hear about it because Chichilnisky is both quite wealthy (her home is on the market now for $10 million), and has a long history of engaging in lawsuits.
July 27th, 2007 at 6:26 am
I didn’t know Columbia University read this site.
July 27th, 2007 at 6:52 am
I think her autobiographical Sex and the Ivy League is less depressing.
She had no College experience and still managed to came out top of her class in the math phd program at MIT- as a single mother. Now that is impressive.
July 27th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Pointing out that there might be another side of the story can be useful (though it is an obvious fact it is frequently forgotten) but I don’t see what relevance it has that Chichilnisky is wealthy.
July 27th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Johan,
The fact that she is wealthy means that she can afford to spend a lot of money on lawyers.
This might cause anyone thinking about saying anything in public about the details of a possible other side of this story to decide not to do so. And to be extremely careful what they write even anonymously in a blog comment section.
July 27th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
After doing a Google search, I did find that some of the other side of this story is available. See the Chronicle of Higher Education story about this:
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v50/i08/08a01001.htm
July 29th, 2007 at 2:07 am
If this is the “other side”, one can read it at her site:
http://www.chichilnisky.com/press%20clippings/2003/chHeduc-oct17-03-.pdf
July 30th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Michael: That’s the same article. Thanks!