CosmicCowboy
06-21-2010, 08:20 AM
A&M administrator resigns amid questions over resume
By VIMAL PATEL
[email protected]
Special to The Eagle
Alexander Kemos resigned this morning as Texas A&M’s No. 3 administrator, university spokesman Jason Cook confirmed early Friday afternoon.
Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin said in a statement that Kemos, “citing a desire to spend more time with his family,” will no longer serve as senior vice president for administration, effective immediately.
Kemos resigned amid questions raised about his resume. He had claimed he was a Navy SEAL with a doctorate from Tufts University.
But records obtained by The Eagle indicate Alexander Kemos never was part of the elite fighting force, while an official with the registrar’s office where Kemos reportedly earned the doctorate said he never completed the program.
In fact, the senior vice president for administration, according to the registrar’s office at the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, never even completed his master’s, a posted requirement for the $300,000-a-year job in which he serves as the top adviser to A&M president.
Kemos did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone Friday morning. Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin and Interim Provost Karan Watson also did not return immediate messages.
Kemos in his bio, his resume and introductions at university events has claimed he was a SEAL.
No one with the last name Kemos has ever attended Basic Underwater Demolition/Seal training, said Cmdr. Greg Giesen, a public affairs officer with the Naval Special Warfare Command.
“If a person has not graduated from BUD/S, they are not and were never a SEAL,” he wrote in an e-mail to the newspaper. “Any claims that their names are withheld because all their missions were ‘Top Secret’ or 'of course they won’t confirm my service, it’s classified’ is all Hollywood pop-fiction.”
Kemos wrote he was a SEAL Team 2 platoon leader and operations officer. He wrote that he was a graduate of Class 93. The entry was under the dates January 1982 to May 1987.
Class 93, however, graduated in August 1977, said Tom Hawkins, founder of the Naval Special Warfare Foundation, who has access to a comprehensive SEAL database. He also said he could find no record of Kemos’ service at any time.
According to a letter from the Military Personnel Records division of the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, officials there conducted “extensive searches” of every records source available to them.
“However, we have been unable to locate any information that would help us verify the veteran’s military service,” the letter stated.
Kemos’ hiring at Texas A&M as associate executive vice president for operations was announced in February 2009 by H. Russell Cross, then executive vice president for operations. Cross referred seven times to “Dr. Kemos” in an e-mail to the campus, detailing that he received his master’s and doctorate from the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Last March, Loftin announced that Kemos had been selected as senior vice president for administration, overseeing non-academic operations such as facilities, business auxiliaries, university police and risk and compliance. Loftin also referred several times to “Dr. Kemos.”
According to the Massachusetts school, Kemos was enrolled as an international relations major in the master’s law and diplomacy program from September 1987 to May 1989, and the doctoral program from September 1990 until December 1994, but did not complete either program's requirements.
“[He] has therefore not earned those degrees,” stated a letter dated June 10 from registrar assistant Michael Yarsky.
Loftin has asked Cross to serve as acting senior vice president for administration in the interim.
The Eagle will update this story as it unfolds.
By VIMAL PATEL
[email protected]
Special to The Eagle
Alexander Kemos resigned this morning as Texas A&M’s No. 3 administrator, university spokesman Jason Cook confirmed early Friday afternoon.
Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin said in a statement that Kemos, “citing a desire to spend more time with his family,” will no longer serve as senior vice president for administration, effective immediately.
Kemos resigned amid questions raised about his resume. He had claimed he was a Navy SEAL with a doctorate from Tufts University.
But records obtained by The Eagle indicate Alexander Kemos never was part of the elite fighting force, while an official with the registrar’s office where Kemos reportedly earned the doctorate said he never completed the program.
In fact, the senior vice president for administration, according to the registrar’s office at the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, never even completed his master’s, a posted requirement for the $300,000-a-year job in which he serves as the top adviser to A&M president.
Kemos did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone Friday morning. Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin and Interim Provost Karan Watson also did not return immediate messages.
Kemos in his bio, his resume and introductions at university events has claimed he was a SEAL.
No one with the last name Kemos has ever attended Basic Underwater Demolition/Seal training, said Cmdr. Greg Giesen, a public affairs officer with the Naval Special Warfare Command.
“If a person has not graduated from BUD/S, they are not and were never a SEAL,” he wrote in an e-mail to the newspaper. “Any claims that their names are withheld because all their missions were ‘Top Secret’ or 'of course they won’t confirm my service, it’s classified’ is all Hollywood pop-fiction.”
Kemos wrote he was a SEAL Team 2 platoon leader and operations officer. He wrote that he was a graduate of Class 93. The entry was under the dates January 1982 to May 1987.
Class 93, however, graduated in August 1977, said Tom Hawkins, founder of the Naval Special Warfare Foundation, who has access to a comprehensive SEAL database. He also said he could find no record of Kemos’ service at any time.
According to a letter from the Military Personnel Records division of the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, officials there conducted “extensive searches” of every records source available to them.
“However, we have been unable to locate any information that would help us verify the veteran’s military service,” the letter stated.
Kemos’ hiring at Texas A&M as associate executive vice president for operations was announced in February 2009 by H. Russell Cross, then executive vice president for operations. Cross referred seven times to “Dr. Kemos” in an e-mail to the campus, detailing that he received his master’s and doctorate from the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Last March, Loftin announced that Kemos had been selected as senior vice president for administration, overseeing non-academic operations such as facilities, business auxiliaries, university police and risk and compliance. Loftin also referred several times to “Dr. Kemos.”
According to the Massachusetts school, Kemos was enrolled as an international relations major in the master’s law and diplomacy program from September 1987 to May 1989, and the doctoral program from September 1990 until December 1994, but did not complete either program's requirements.
“[He] has therefore not earned those degrees,” stated a letter dated June 10 from registrar assistant Michael Yarsky.
Loftin has asked Cross to serve as acting senior vice president for administration in the interim.
The Eagle will update this story as it unfolds.