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Wife of embattled professor resigns CU post

AP - May 16, 2006

DENVER — Natsu Saito, wife of embattled University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill, has resigned her tenured teaching position at the school but said she and her husband have no plans to leave Boulder.

Saito said Tuesday she will resume teaching at Georgia State University College of Law in Atlanta, where she has been on the faculty since 1994. She has been on leave from Georgia State since January 2004 while teaching ethnic studies at CU.

Saito said she would commute to Atlanta to teach at the Georgia State law school.

Saito's resignation, first reported in the Boulder Daily Camera, comes as her husband is under investigation on allegations of research misconduct, including plagiarism. A faculty committee was expected to release an investigative report on the allegations as early as Tuesday.

Saito said her decision to resign was not prompted by the pending report.

Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, angered many people with an essay comparing some Sept. 11 victims to a Nazi. University officials determined he could not be fired for the comments but launched an investigation into the allegations about his research.

If the committee upholds the allegations, Churchill could be disciplined or fired. Churchill has denied wrongdoing and has said he would sue if he is dismissed.

The university was not expected to announce a decision on Churchill's decision at least until next month.

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That Boulder- Atlanta commute is rather brutal.

Wow. Don't know her, although I know lots of folks at GSU.

If she's been on the faculty at GSU since 1994, how the heck did she get TENURE at CU Boulder? According to an article in dailycamera.com, she only started teaching there in 2002 and hasn't taught since fall 2005.

She's ticked off at the adminstration for mistreating her hubby . . . calls them "unprincipled."

Doesn't sound like she'll be much of an asset to GSU.