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MIT Admissions Dean Marilee Jones Resigns

April 26, 2007 By

The New York Times reports that Marilee Jones, MIT’s undergraduate dean of admissions, has resigned after admitting that she had “misrepresented her academic degrees to the Institute.” Twenty-eight years ago, when she applied for her first position at MIT, she claimed that she had received degrees from Albany Medical College, Union College, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; she had not. She also never corrected the misinformation.

It is ironic that Ms. Jones resigned because she inflated her qualifications. She has been a voice of reason in the college admissions process, arguing that the increasingly intense and all-encompassing competition for coveted admissions spots at top universities is not healthy for teens.

While Ms. Jones in the past has been an advocate for sanity in admissions, unfortunately now, she provides an example of what can happen when one lies in an application, be if for employment or admission. Those untruths can come back to haunt you. They can come back to bite you.  In a very big way.

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Filed Under: College Admissions, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions, MIT Sloan
  • Linda Abraham

    Another bizarre twist in the story of Marilee Jones: She did have a bachelor’s degree says MIT, but not from any of the schools she claimed had awarded her a degree. She also added an unearned degree to her bio some years after she was hired at MIT. For more details, please see http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/05/02/ex_mit_dean_never_cited_actual_degree/

  • Shari Rawlings

    There is no question that falsifying your resume is wrong. But, here is someone who contributed greatly to the school for 20+ years; had she not have falsified her information, she would probably have never been hired. We are seeing more falsification of resumes than ever before, and I believe it is a product of companies focusing more on the degrees than they do the quality and skills of the person. The HR professionals that are screening are overloaded and incapable of accurately assessing each professionals credentials, so they create blanket requirements for what end up being unnecessary degrees. Of course it doesn’t excuse the lies, but it is a different way to look at the situation as a whole, especially in fields outside of academia.

  • Linda Abraham

    Shari,

    Actually my understanding is that the job she initially applied for did not require a bachelors degree, which she did have, just not from the schools she claimed to have attended. In addition, she made some changes to her resume when she had already been working for several years at MIT. And of course, whe never chose to correct the "errors."

    Two reactions to your comment.

    1) Any student who falsified his or her credentials on an application would be expelled from MIT. MIT could not refrain from requesting Ms. Jones resignation considering its rules for students.
    2) Ms. Jones resignation is a loss; she had done a lot of good. Her staying once the falsification would have become known, however, was impossible.