UK puts dean at the center of a whistleblower lawsuit on administrative leave
The dean of the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, who was at the center of a whistleblower lawsuit after he allegedly unlawfully fired a faculty member who was critical of Gov. Matt Bevin, has been placed on administrative leave and granted a one-year sabbatical
Stephanos Kyrkanides will begin “a one-year sabbatical/administrative leave immediately, but remains a faculty member in the College of Dentistry,” Provost David Blackwell wrote in an email Wednesday morning. He did not give any reasons for the change, but said he would soon be meeting with the college’s leadership team to discuss interim leadership.
Kyrkanides is slated to return to UK as a member of the faculty, said UK spokesman Jay Blanton.
Kyrkanides will be paid 75 percent of his current salary of $383,680, so he will receive $287,760 while on leave.
UK officials would not comment further because it is a personnel issue, Blanton said.
Kyrkanides was the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by long-time faculty member Raynor Mullins, who asserted that Kyrkanides pushed him out of a post-retirement fellowship after he wrote a public letter criticizing Bevin’s proposed changes to the state’s Medicaid program. UK settled with Mullins shortly before the case was scheduled for trial, paying Mullins $620,000 and giving him a new post to improve oral health in Kentucky.
The settlement did not admit Kyrkanides had retaliated against Mullins, despite several depositions from witnesses who heard the dean say that Mullins had to go.
Kyrkanides was named dean in 2015, coming to UK from the Stonybrook University School of Dental Medicine.
