The State University of New York at Albany removed the director of its humanistic-studies program from his position Wednesday, after he was accused of plagiarizing large portions of a text in which he was both editor and translator. The professor, Louis W. Roberts, has taught classics at the university for nearly 30 years.
The recent allegations were sparked when SUNY-Albany professor John Monfasani accused Roberts of plagiarism in a memo circulated among faculty. The memo claims that in Roberts' book Latin Texts From the First Century B.C. to the Seventh Century A.D., Roberts copies 70 year old translations, by medievalist John L. LaMonte, and presents them as his own.
SUNY-Albany officials said they are taking the incident seriously, but Roberts' colleagues question why the incident was not taken more seriously when it was first brought up a year ago.
Lisa James, SUNY-Albany's assistant director of media relations, said a statement would be forthcoming detailing the University's plans for Roberts. Roberts has not yet said whether he will retire.
Plagiarism has been a topic of concern in academia for the past few months. Recently, noted historians Steven Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin were accused of committing plagiarism in their works.
Plagiarism traditionally has been more common in the field of history than in classics.
"In my experience, plagiarism is very rare in the field of classics," said John Miller, chairman of the University's classics department.
Plagiarism among faculty has not been a major problem at the University, according to Associate Dean of Administration Richard J. Sundberg, who said he could not recall any known faculty plagiarism incidents within the past decade.
Sundberg said one reason may be the University's honor code.
"Certainly with the University's general reputation the faculty would be more attune to the honor policy," Sundberg said.
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