In early July 2008, a woman named Dixie Randock was sentenced to three years in prison for her role in operating a notorious diploma mill. The sentencing was the culmination of a six-year crusade begun by particle physicist George Gollin, a professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Gollin will present Sending Dixie to Prison at the Department of Physics colloquium at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, in Moulton Hall room 214.
Randock’s operation sold fake degrees online, many of which were issued under the name St. Regis University. Gollin was alarmed to find that the degrees being bought and sold included those certifying clinical expertise, such as forensic psychology, oncology, plastic surgery, even orthopedic surgery. Furthermore, individuals from other nations were using the diploma mills to acquire fake credentials for H-1B visa applications, making it an issue of national security.
This investigation and subsequent prosecution yielded eight felony convictions, obliterating St. Regis University and sending its owners to federal prison. It also gave rise to new legislation at both the state and federal levels.
For more information on the colloquium, contact the Department of Physics at 438-8756 or info@phy.ilstu.edu.
