Following the publication of an article by Business Insider, Neri Oxman, the spouse of billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, acknowledged lapses in giving proper credit to sources in certain sections of her doctoral dissertation. The report highlighted a pattern of plagiarism resembling that of former Harvard president Claudine Gay.
Business Insider identified four occurrences in Oxman’s dissertation where she incorporated paragraphs from the work of other scholars without using quotation marks. In response to this revelation, Oxman acknowledged in a post on X that employing quotation marks would have been the “proper approach for crediting the work,” expressing regret and offering apologies for these errors.
This kind of academic misconduct falls within what is considered plagiarism, as per the standards outlined in MIT’s academic integrity handbook. Oxman received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2010.
Acknowledging the gravity of the situation, Oxman wrote on X that, after reviewing the original sources, she intends to “request that MIT make any necessary corrections.”
“As I have dedicated my career to advancing science and innovation, I have always recognized the profound importance of the contributions of my peers and those who came before me. I hope that my work is helpful to the generations to come,” she wrote.
Oxman is currently at the helm of a company bearing her name, Oxman, with a focus on “innovation in product, architectural, and urban design,” as stated on X. On the same platform, she mentioned, “OXMAN has been in stealth mode. I look forward to sharing more about OXMAN later this year.”
Bill Ackman, Oxman’s husband, has been a vocal critic of Claudine Gay and has campaigned for her resignation. He considered Gay’s plagiarism “very serious” and indicative of a lack of fitness to lead or teach at Harvard. In response to Business Insider’s article, Ackman praised his wife’s transparency in his own X post.
“Part of what makes her human is that she makes mistakes, owns them, and apologizes when appropriate,” he expressed.
Relevant articles:
– Bill Ackman’s Wife, Neri Oxman, Apologizes for Plagiarism in Her 2010 Dissertation
– Neri Oxman admits to plagiarizing in her doctoral dissertation after BI report
– Wife of Billionaire Who Pushed for Harvard President’s Ouster Apologizes for Plagiarism in Dissertation