Henri Grissino-Mayer

Henri Grissino-Mayer was a Full Professor of Geography and Director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.^[1] Grissino-Mayer is a dendrochronologist who specializes in the use of tree-ring analysis to reconstruct environmental and cultural history. He received a BS (with honors) in Geography in 1985 and an MA in Geography in 1988 from the University of Georgia.^[2] His thesis research directed by David Butler (now at Texas State University, San Marcos) investigated the relationships between climate and growth of shortleaf pine in north-central Georgia.^[3] He completed his Ph.D. under Tom Swetnam in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona in 1995. His dissertation research was conducted at El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico where he reconstructed precipitation and wildfire activity for the last 2,000 years.^[4] Grissino-Mayer has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles during his career. His work has appeared in high impact journals such as Ecology,^[5] Holocene,^[6] International Journal of Wildland Fire,^[7] and Journal of Archaeological Science ^[8] and has been featured on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and the Weather Channel.

On August 8, 2018, after a formal complaint was filed the previous day, the University of Tennessee launched what turned out to be the second investigation into Grissino-Mayer. The investigation stated that Grissino-Mayer, through “abuse of his power and position as a tenured full professor with an active research program, a well-funded laboratory and a steady pipeline of high-achieving graduate students, had inappropriate relationships with current and former students, including inappropriate sexual relationships.” The first investigation against Grissino-Mayer was initiated in 2011. After that investigation concluded, he remained employed by the university but was denied a merit raise, had to complete sexual harassment policy training, and was required to end contact with the student. He and the same student married that same year. On August 10, 2018, Grissino-Mayer met with several faculty members, where he admitted that he “not only violated the university’s policy,” but also that he “knew” and understood that “he was violating the policy at the time of his misconduct.” On August 31, he voluntarily tendered a written resignation, effective October 1, 2018. The university accepted his resignation on September 8, “effective immediately,” while also stating "We know that he did not learn from his past mistakes, having disrupted our community before when he engaged in a sexual relationship with a student... He has already taken more of our collective time and energy than he deserves, and I do not believe he will change his ways.” Grissino-Mayer has been given a no-contact order for his current and former students and is not allowed on UT property without prior approval from the university. If he is on campus property, a UT police escort and university official also will be present. He is listed as “resigned in lieu of termination” in university records. Grissino-Mayer will not be allowed to hold the title of professor emeritus, be entitled to retiree privileges typically given to tenured professors, and cannot associate with the university in any way, except for “former UT faculty” or “professor, retired.” The present investigation is ongoing as of September 27th. ^[9][10]

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