Standford says pundit isn't Ph. D.

(U-WIRE) -- Robert X. Cringely, a best-selling author, PBS television personality and Silicon Valley pundit, has been passing himself off as a former Stanford professor and doctoral degree recipient for years.

Records in the Registrar's Office and the Communication Department indicate, however, that Cringely -- who used his given name, Mark Stephens, while at Stanford -- never held a title more prestigious than teaching assistant. Cringely completed his master's degree in September 1979 but never received any higher degree.

Questions about Cringely's credentials arose this week after a story in Monday's San Francisco Chronicle erroneously referred to Cringely as a former Stanford professor. In past articles, the Los Angeles Times described Cringely as a Stanford professor on two separate occasions. In addition, Cringely's PBS Web page refers to him as a "sex symbol and former Stanford professor." Scores of other newspaper articles published about Cringely since the early 1990s refer to his Stanford affiliation.

In both the hardback and paperback editions of Cringely's best-selling book, "Accidental Empires," he is described as a former Stanford professor as well.

Although Laura Evenson, the reporter who researched and wrote the story for the Chronicle, had doubts about Cringely's affiliation with Stanford, the story ran with the questionable passage.

"I started thinking: wait a second, this person says he's a former Stanford professor, but why would he give up a life as a Stanford professor for an uncertain life as a freelance writer?" Evenson said.

Evenson attempted to verify Cringely's status by checking with the Stanford News Service, she said. News Service was unable to check Cringely's status with the Registrar's Office in time for Evenson's deadline. Evenson wrote the story anyway and referred to Cringely as a former Stanford professor, attributing the information to the PBS Web site at www.pbs.org.

In interviews with Cringely, Evenson said he told her he had been a professor at Stanford.

"This is a good example of how bad journalism begets bad journalism," said communication professor Ted Glasser. "Attribution is not a justification for inaccuracy. We teach that to students here, and I can't imagine a newsroom in the country where that is not taught as well."

When asked about his connections to Stanford and his claims to have been a professor here, Cringely told the Daily that he would be happy to show his diploma but felt it unnecessary.

"I don't care about this, and why should I bother to show you my diploma?" Cringely said. "I worked for 31 years as a reporter and I don't care about your story."

Later, however, he released a statement in which he apologized to the "faculty, students and administration of Stanford University."

At Stanford from 1977 to 1983, Cringely said that he finished his course work in 1981 and stayed on to teach. According to the Registrar's Office, Cringely enrolled at Stanford in 1977 and worked on his master's until 1979. From 1979 to 1982, according to the Registrar's Office, Cringely worked toward a doctorate.

"To the best of my knowledge, I was doing so with the title of acting assistant professor," Cringely said.

Communication department chair Steven Chaffee, however, emphasized the difference between a teaching assistant and a professor.

"It would be like a medical student passing himself off as a doctor," Chaffee said.

Cringely explained that he did not finish his dissertation, though he claims to have completed the course work and oral examinations necessary to receive the degree.

"That puts me in a category with thousands of people teaching at universities across America who have precisely my qualifications," Cringely said.

"They have done everything but those final touches on the dissertation. They are called 'professor' and 'Dr.' and nobody questions it. Now somebody has questioned it."

Adding that he felt that he had done the work necessary to earn his doctorate, Cringely said he hopes to eventually return to Stanford.

"[A] new fact has now become painfully clear to me: you don't say you have the Ph.D. unless you really have the Ph.D.," Cringely said. "Moreover, I should have finished the work. And if Stanford will allow me to, I will."

"I don't know what the University can do," Chaffee said.

"I suppose the University could get a cease and desist order, but I think that would be a lot more trouble than it's worth. There are a lot of cases out there of people claiming a closer affiliation with Stanford than they actually have.

"His is an extreme form."