Paula Broadwell fell short of aims at Harvard, draws scrutiny at second college

[jsr]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2012/11/14/paula-broadwell-switched-her-phd-bid-from-harvard-british-college/u0uOkzdrm7q6x0leL2DyCM/story.html

Broadwell fell short of aims at Harvard
Draws scrutiny at second college
By Callum Borchers, Tracy Jan and Bryan Bender

Paula Broadwell, the biographer with whom former CIA ­director David Petraeus had an extramarital affair, abandoned her bid for a doctorate from Harvard in 2007, failing to advance to PhD candidacy after four semesters at the Kennedy School of Government, and now faces the prospect of an ethical review at King’s College London, where she has resumed pursuit of a doctorate.

The revelations about her mixed academic record add to the portrait of a principal figure in the Petraeus scandal who has refused to respond to multiple Globe requests for comment and hasn’t spoken publicly since disclosure of her relationship with Petraeus and his resignation as CIA chief.

Broadwell left Harvard with a lesser diploma in 2008, a master of public administration, after one additional semester.

She enrolled later that year as a PhD student in the war studies department of King’s College London, where her military leadership research focused largely on Petraeus, according to Broadwell’s profile on the school website. But four years on, Broadwell remains far from earning her degree, according to the department chairman, and her relationship with the subject of her research could jeopardize her progress toward a doctorate. ...

[wilt the stilt]

1. I bet her focus was Patraeus

but it was probably below his belt.

[asjr]

3. Obviously he has hidden assets.

[Live and Learn]

2. Gosh, I might have to stick up for Paula here.

Since when is falling short of ones aims a bad thing. If it is, wouldn't it mean everyone should aim really low?

I might question what she was willing to do to attain those aims but falling short of one's aims doesn't seem damning to me.

[Berlum]

4. You can always tell a Harvard girl

But you can't tell them much.*


* Variation on an ancient H Square joke.

[underpants]

5. There's a couple of things they don't teach you in Harvard Business School...

There's a couple of things they don't teach you in Harvard Business School, one is how to cope with defeat, the other is how to handle a shotgun, I'm going to do both right now.


EPA Official: S-sir, I'm afraid you've gone mad with power...
Russ Cargill: Of course I have. You ever tried going mad without power? It's boring. No one listens to you!

http://s3.amazonaws.com/quotefully_production/photos/movie/22a5b46d996f11e090df12313b10052d_small

[Berlum]

9. She was not at the B school, but at Kennedy...

...but your point is well taken. There's a hell of a lot they don't teach you at the Kennedy School either...

Good luck on your hunt, and don't be pulling a Republican Draft-Dodging Cheney stunt, or nuthin.

[Justice]

6. "she was so amazing, attractive, fit, smart accomplished, able to do it all"

Just because she was fit and attractive, people assumed she was handling everything else to the same standard.

I am not saying people cannot be all things, or that women cannot be all things, just that because she is fit and attractive people made lots of assumptions and frankly, gave her a pass.

I think the bit about writing the biography was cover for the affair.

[reformist2]

7. She was disappointed Harvard didn't offer a degree in Petraeus Studies.

[demhottie]

8. If this is coming up short, then

Attempting a Harvard Phd and instead getting a MPA isn't exactly failure. The Harvard faculty was obviously snobby and resentful of her access to Petraeus. She may be a schemer and a slag but she's far from a failure.

[gkhouston]

10. Left after four semesters with a master's degree? Sounds like she didn't pass her quals. n/t

[hedda_foil]

11. Her writing was so bad she had to bring in a ghostwriter.

"She was a lot of talk but not a lot of follow-through,” said the second professor, who described Broadwell’s struggle to deliver on the biography as “deeply embarrassing” to the Kennedy School. “That is why she brought on a co-author,” Vernon Loeb, an editor at the Washington Post.

[demhottie]

13. Have you seen a ghost writer for a biographer before?

I don't think I have.

I usually see ghost writers for celebs. Weird ...

[DURHAM D]

12. What a shock. She lied on her resume.

Broadwell, 40, says on her resume on the professional networking website LinkedIn that she obtained two master of arts degrees from the University of Denver, one in international security and one in international negotiations, before coming to Cambridge in September 2005. In fact, she was awarded only one degree, in international security in 2006, according to the university registrar.