A longtime Harvard professor facing multiple sexual harassment allegations announced Tuesday that he would retire at the end of the Spring 2018 semester.
Jorge I. Dominguez, a professor of government who taught at Harvard since the 1970s, wrote in an email to colleagues Tuesday that he would immediately resign from his administrative duties and retire at the end of the semester, the Washington Post reported.
Dominguez added that he is not teaching this semester.
Several women claimed that Dominguez sexually harassed them by kissing or touching them inappropriately, and the university announced Sunday that he would be placed on administrative leave while the university conducts an investigation into the allegations.
Harvard Dean of the Faculty of the Arts and Sciences Michael Smith said that even though Dominguez announced his retirement, the announcement would not affect the school’s investigation into his conduct.
“I want to be very clear that Dominguez’s forthcoming retirement does not change the full and fair process of review that is currently underway,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “He remains on administrative leave until it is concluded.”
Several women told the Chronicle of Higher Education that Dominguez made unwanted sexual advances toward them since he was an assistant professor at the university in the 1980s.
Three days after the article was published, Harvard’s provost sent an email to students asking those who had been sexually assaulted or harassed by Dominguez to come forward.
Harvard has seen an increase in reports of sexual harassment over the past few years—sexual harassment complaints at Harvard spiked by 65 percent for the 2016-2017 academic year.