The Corruption of Sid Gilman

continued

Soon after the charges were announced in late November, the university announced that Gilman had retired. And with that, it went silent about its honored faculty member. Employees were ordered to refer media queries to Barkey.

Yet by all accounts, Gilman had enjoyed the respect of his colleagues. Local science writer Ken Garber, who interviewed Gilman earlier this year, calls the researcher "a gentleman" and emails that he was "saddened" to learn of the scandal. Gilman is described as being unfailingly helpful and approachable, always willing to give advice on a patient, a drug, a research quandary, a professional matter.

His pedigree was impeccable: undergrad, med school, and internship at UCLA; research training at the National Institutes of Health; residency at Boston City Hospital; taught at Harvard and Columbia. In 1977, he took over as chair of the neurology department and chief of the neurology service at the U-M, positions he held till 2004. He served on scores of professional societies, editorial boards, and advisory boards, plus scads of committees and volunteer service.

As of last year, Gilman was principal investigator in about $3 million of grant-funded research, with more than two dozen prior grant projects to his credit--all of these benefiting the university not only in prestige, but via the "indirect costs" that a percentage of all grants spin into the university's coffers.