They came to Johanne Brunet's lab seeking to sharpen their skills, add to their resumes and advance up the competitive career ladder of academia.
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Johanne Brunet's USDA lab group in 2021. Brunet is pictured at far right.
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Greg Gelembiuk, one of several individuals who worked in Johanne Brunet's lab, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Greg Gelembiuk now works on campus at Russell Laboratories. He was unemployed for nearly a year after corroborating a student's complaint to UW-Madison and filing one of his own with the USDA.
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Karsten Holmquist works as a carpenter, a much different career track than the one he planned before entering Johanne Brunet's UW-Madison lab.
'Toxic' lab: Read all coverage of the aftermath from a UW-Madison student's suicide
A UW-Madison graduate student's suicide in October 2016 sparked a university investigation into the faculty member at the center of the lab where the student worked. University records describe College of Engineering professor Akbar Sayeed’s lab as "toxic" and his behavior as "abusive." State Journal reporter Kelly Meyerhofer writes about the university's report and fallout from the initial story, including Sayeed's reassignment and UW-Madison's plans to start centrally tracking bullying complaints.
John Brady faced a stressful work environment under an engineering professor before taking his own life.
National Science Foundation fired engineering professor Akbar Sayeed after receiving a detailed report on the toxic lab environment he oversaw.
The change will ensure reports of hostile and intimidating behavior "do not simply remain hidden inside a department or unit," Chancellor Rebecca Blank said.
College of Engineering Dean Ian Robertson reassigned professor Akbar Sayeed to administrative duties in the Dean's Office.
Firing of faculty members is rare. The UW Board of Regents dismissed six professors in the past decade.
Nearly 200 students and others gathered on the Engineering Mall on campus Thursday to demand the university hold abusers accountable and to protest the possible return of professor Akbar Sayeed.
Listen to the inaugural episode of Front Page, the State Journal’s new weekly podcast that takes a look back at some of the paper’s most interesting stories.
Students said the policy doesn't go far enough to protect them from potential exploitation.
The most recent investigation of tenured professor Akbar Sayeed is "currently underway regarding additional information that surfaced in fall 2019."
The professor's resignation comes more than four years after the suicide of one of his students.
Engineering professor Akbar Sayeed left behind a "career-long string of victims," according to a recently released report.
In this Series
Read the whole series: Academic Abuse: An Overdue Reckoning
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Updated
Threats, abuse, retaliation: UW-Madison confronts persistent problem of academic bullying
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Professor twice investigated for bullying shows potential gaps in how UW-Madison monitors labs
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Policies preventing pass-the-harasser don't include bullying. UW is weighing if its should
- 5 updates

