USC officials in Los Angeles said Carmen Puliafito, MD, former dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, "was responsible for barely 1 percent of the more than $1.2 billion that USC raised for medicine," the Los Angeles Times reports.
Albert Checcio, senior vice president for university advancement, sent a letter describing the institution's fundraising efforts to university alumni and supporters Aug. 18. He credited the $1.2 billion the medical school received in donations during the last seven years to the efforts of numerous department chairs, researchers and USC President C.L Max Nikias, PhD.
"What these gifts illustrate is that fundraising at a multifaceted research university like USC is a collaborative effort, especially in medicine, where the relationships that donors build with all members of their healthcare team are paramount to philanthropic support," Mr. Checcio wrote. "No single individual is ever responsible for — or can take sole credit for — raising the money."
University officials, including Dr. Nikias, previously praised Dr. Puliafito as "a fundraiser of singular quality" in 2007, the report states. While up for reappointment as dean in 2012, Dr. Puliafito reported on a self-assessment he secured $500 million in contributions during his five-year tenure as dean at that point, according to the report.
Dr. Puliafito stepped down from his position as dean in March 2016, three weeks after a young woman overdosed in his presence at a nearby hotel. His involvement in the incident was not publicly reported until the Los Angeles Times published a report in July 2017.
Laura Fredericks, an adjunct instructor at New York City-based New York University, told Los Angeles Times it is "highly unusual for a university to publicly dispute how much a key administrator raised," according to the report.