SLEEZE

A new faculty member arrived at King Faisal University, College of Architecture, with great fanfare.  He was hailed as the college’s first Ph.D. in Architecture from the United States.  He was fluent in Arabic and English.    In addition, it was no small matter that his name began with Al- an indication of membership in the Arab Brotherhood. He was hired as a full professor, a rare demonstration of great prestige and respect.  He was the darling of the Saudi contingent of our faculty.  

His name was Sadam Al-Fraudal.  “That is, Doctor Al-Fraudal, please”.  He arrived and immediately pushed his weight around, demanding that he be designated department head.  He then insisted that he be given a light teaching load consistent with his administrative responsibilities as department head.   In addition he would only agree to teach classes of his choosing.  

Al-Fraudal seemed to avoid personal contact with other faculty.  He never had lunch with us, in the college cafeteria.  He was often absent from the campus.  He spent much of his time in Riyadh, making friends among the Saudi upper crust.  His social connections seemed to be more important to him than his duties at the college.  I must admit that I resented him for getting all that prestige and high salary while not pulling his weight in the classroom.

Apparently, I was not the only one with those feelings.  One of my colleagues, I never learned who felt that there was something fishy about Al-Fraudal.  Without informing anyone of his suspicion, he investigated Dr. Al-Fraudal’s academic credentials.  He found that Al-Fraudal‘s Ph.D. had been awarded by a mail order institution which gave credit for “life experiences”.  It would award degrees to candidates despite their having never taken a class in person.  Furthermore, his bachelor’s and master’s degrees could not be verified to have been awarded by the institutions he claimed.

This information, was secretly passed to our dean.  The dean took it to the University Rector (President).  They independently verified the accusations.   Two years after arriving amid fanfare and accolades, the exulted “Doctor” Al-Fraudal was quietly told to leave.   That was the last we heard of him at King Faisal University.  It was as if he had never existed.   

Later I was told that his departure from KFU was not the last of his self-promotion in the Kingdom.  He had been able to convince one of his new friends in Riyadh, to be his sponsor in a company that would sell solar energy systems to the Saudi Government.   In the end, Al-Fraudal made a fortune selling sunlight to the Saudis.

Copyright 9/23/2023, by Theodore “Tod” Lundy,  Architect