Mark Schlissel: Princeton undergrad; MD/PhD from Johns Hopkins; immunology and microbiology; postdoc at MIT; taught at Johns Hopkins and Berkeley, where he eventually became Dean of Biological Sciences before moving to Brown as provost. Wife and four kids. Smart people do stupid things.
There’s no justification for the affair. That said, I can imagine several different scenarios, some sad and some deserving of as much mockery as we can muster. Schlissel’s relationship with his wife, who lives in California, and the age differential between the lovers come into play here. A lonely older man separated and essentially divorced from his wife is one thing. A horny university president who takes up with a local Kamala Harris type is another.
P.S. I’m not trying to rationalize or justify the affair. I’m just noting that there could be a bit more to it than we see on the surface. The guy was a year from retirement. If this kind of behavior was a pattern, it should have cropped up long before his mid-60’s. And perhaps it did, and it was ignored until now.
I think that you've identified the key (Yiddish = Schlissel) to this man's problem.
Regards,
A million trillion dollars says the wife knew and didn't care. Take a look at the schnook.
"Schlissel has four children with Princeton graduate Monica Schwebs Schlissel, a 65-year-old environmental and energy law attorney now living near San Francisco in Moraga, Calif. His affair appears not to have been totally clandestine, as the emails refer to public appearances together at campus events and joint travel."In fact, with this info alone, they will smoke out the woman's name before the end of the day, gleaning what more they need from the 118-page PDF the UM Board of Regents put out on this guy exposing the affair. Wow what a sweet burn.