Glasgow Medical School head to leave his job amid uni investigation into his conduct

The head of undergraduate medicine at Glasgow University, Professor John Paul Leach, will leave his role amid an ongoing inquiry into his conduct.

According to The Herald, Glasgow University launched an inquiry into the behaviour of the senior academic following “multiple” complaints from students and staff.

Earlier this week, current female medical students told the Glasgow Tab misogyny comes “from the top down” and another claimed she was told to do a secretarial course instead of medicine.

Professor Leach has maintained he is not leaving due to this disciplinary process. He told The Herald: “There is no bullying or misogynistic behaviour of which I’ve been guilty and no sanction so I leave with my record at the university clear.”

“There is no case to answer”, he added.

In September, Leach came under fire after images of lecture slides he gave to students in 2017 re-emerged showing a diagram of “the female brain” containing sections labelled “shoes”, “headache generator” and “gold digging sensory”.

Last week, another senior academic, Dr James Going, resigned over “a culture of misogyny” festering in the Medical School.

Dr Going, an Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, claimed: “I no longer care to be associated with the university” following his resignation.

“I am resigning in protest from the position of honorary clinical professor, which I have held for the last seven years.

“I and others have been waiting for evidence that people with authority in the university have the will and the backbone to do something effective about it.

“We are still waiting.”

Staff were told on Tuesday Professor Leach was to leave the university although an exact timeframe for his departure hasn’t been set.

A letter sent to staff talks of a “competitive external appointment process” to recruit a replacement for his position.

The head of the school of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, Professor Leach, described him as “talented” and wished him well.

The university commissioned an independent review in January to uncover gender discrimination and bullying directed towards female academics “committed disproportionately by men against women”.

Professor Leach is set to take up role of senior clinical neuroscientist with a multinational pharmaceutical company.

A spokesperson for the University of Glasgow said: “The University of Glasgow condemns discrimination of any kind and is committed to promoting equality and diversity across its community and campus.”

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Featured image before edits via YouTube