Bill Ackman says he'll review all MIT professors for plagiarism

• Bill Ackman is ramping up his search for plagiarism and pledged to review all MIT professors' work.
• His move comes after BI reported on several instances of plagiarism in his wife's academic work.

Bill Ackman is ramping up his crusade against plagiarism to include the work of all Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors after Business Insider reported on several instances of plagiarism found in academic work by his wife, Neri Oxman, a tenured MIT professor.

MIT has not yet commented on the accusations against Oxman. However, a representative for the university told Business Insider "our leaders remain focused on ensuring the vital work of the people of MIT continues, work that is essential to the nation's security, prosperity and quality of life."

Ackman recently spearheaded the campaign to get Harvard's former president, Claudine Gay, to resign from her position over allegations that she had plagiarized in her own academic papers. The push to get her to leave her post came after Ackman and others condemned Gay's response to the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel.

Gay resigned Tuesday following weeks of criticism.

"It is unfortunate that my actions to address problems in higher education have led to these attacks on my family," Ackman said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday. "This experience has inspired me to save all news organizations from the trouble of doing plagiarism reviews. We will begin with a review of the work of all current @MIT faculty members, President Kornbluth, other officers of the Corporation, and its board members for plagiarism."

A representative for Ackman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

In December, Ackman began calling for Gay's resignation, as well as that of University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill and MIT's Sally Kornbluth following their testimony before Congress about handling antisemitism on campus.

Critics derided the testimony from the elite schools' leaders as being insufficient to address antisemitism on campus, which students say has increased in the wake of Israel's declaration of war on Hamas.

Magill resigned on December 9, just four days after her testimony in which she stated that if antisemitic speech "turns into conduct, it can be harassment." Donors to Penn and the board of Wharton, the university's business school, had called for her resignation. No known accusations of plagiarism were involved in her decision to step down.

Kornbluth remains in her role as of Friday, announcing the day after Gay's resignation a plan for four "new steps" for progress at MIT, including improving student disciplinary processes and making sure its DEI programs effectively meet campus needs.

Kornbluth did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.