Criminal Justice Professor Joseph Ryan recently filed a motion against Pace in Westchester County Supreme Court to obtain a report conducted by an external investigator that led to his removal as department chair in April 2019. 

On Feb. 10, 2020 Ryan formally requested that he and his attorney, Michael Sussman, be granted access to the external investigation report filed against him. Pace initially denied Ryan access, but later complied with his request when Sussman and the courts became involved. Pace agreed to grant him access on Feb. 24. 

Ryan’s removal as chair came after a months-long dispute with another faculty member in his department. In January 2019, Ryan reported to the university that one faculty member supposedly partook in “improper practices” earlier in the academic year. 

Ryan stated that he discovered the faculty member was “misusing university funds” to pay for travel between the two campuses, as outlined in the decision statement made by Pace Provost, Dr. Vanya Quiñones. The faculty member was found to have not engaged in any wrongdoings on the basis of misused funds.

Said faculty member later filed a gender discrimination complaint against Ryan on May 1, 2019 and he was suspended from his position as department chair at that time. She reports to have been victimized by Ryan for almost two years.  

That same month, Pace conducted an external investigation to review the complaint further. Throughout the external investigation, about 15 witnesses were interviewed and a report was compiled with recommendations to the university of how to proceed. 

“Ryan did not effectively serve as an academic and administrative leader, and that he did not sufficiently promote the development of the CJS,” external investigator, Cynthia Maxwell Curtin, Esq. concluded. 

Dr. Quiñones accepted Curtin’s findings and subsequently, Ryan was removed from his chair position. 

“The record is clear that Ryan has failed to act in a manner consistent with a Chairperson’s leadership responsibility, including but not limited to his treatment of [the faculty member],” she said. 

According to the faculty member’s sex discrimination complaint, Ryan cancelled her class, did not approve her office hours and insisted that she only work at one campus. Ryan also refused to write a letter to support her tenure application.

“[Ryan has a] well-established pattern of turning against faculty as they approach the tenure application process,” Quiñones said. 

Although the administration rejected the gender discrimination claim, Quiñones said Ryan lacked the leadership required for a chair position. 

“The University takes academic leadership very seriously,” Director of Public Affairs for Pace’s Westchester campus, Jerry McKinstry, said. “When we receive a complaint, we investigate the matter and take appropriate action.” 

Ryan has been a professor at Pace for 29 years, with 23 of them spent as the chair of the department. He also served as the chair of the masters in public administration program and the interim chair of the political science department. Prior to his time at Pace, Ryan had a 25 year career in the New York Police Department.