Dallas, Texas- In a high-profile case that has sent ripples through American academia, Dr. Sean Wang, a Chinese-American accounting professor at Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) Edwin L. Cox School of Business, has filed a federal lawsuit alleging blatant race-based discrimination and retaliation by Indian-origin professors and university administrators.
Dr. Wang claims he was systematically denied tenure despite an extraordinary academic record that far exceeded the university’s own published standards, a denial he attributes to his Chinese ethnicity and resistance to preferential treatment given to Indian-origin faculty.
Dr. Wang, who earned his PhD from Cornell University and previously taught at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, joined SMU in 2017. At the time of hiring, he already had four publications in the university’s designated “top-tier” journals , exactly meeting the official tenure benchmark listed in SMU’s Promotion and Tenure Manual.
Over the following years, Dr. Wang went far beyond expectations. He published ten articles in elite Financial Times Top-50 journals, more than double any other faculty member in the department’s recent history. His work earned over 1,650 citations, significantly higher than Indian-origin colleagues who were granted tenure. He also received invitations to speak at prestigious institutions including Harvard, London Business School, Kellogg, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon.
Despite this exceptional performance, Dr. Wang was denied tenure, labeled a “bad fit” for the department, and eventually issued a terminal-year notice, ending his employment in Spring 2026.
The lawsuit paints a disturbing picture of systemic bias in SMU’s Accounting Department since 2006, when Professor Hemang Desai (Indian-origin) became a full professor and later served as department chair.
According to the complaint:
100% of Indian-origin candidates who met the minimum four top-tier publication requirement were granted tenure (2 out of 2: Neil Bhattacharya in 2008 and Gauri Bhat in 2020).
0% of non-Indian candidates who met or exceeded the same standard received tenure (0 out of 5, including Caucasian and Chinese scholars).
Notable cases include Dr. Mina Pizzini and Dr. Chris Hogan, both highly productive Caucasian professors who were denied tenure and later joined other prominent universities. Dr. Wang’s suit alleges this reflects a clear ancestry-based preference for Indian-origin faculty.
Dr. Wang claims the department repeatedly moved the goalposts. After he published additional papers and boosted his citations as advised, officials shifted focus to vague subjective criteria like “more visibility” and “departmental fit.”
Multiple senior professors have come forward in support of Dr. Wang:
Professor Robin Pinkley, a 35-year SMU veteran, called the “fit” argument “self-serving” and warned of bias in the process.
Professor Pab Jotikashtira described Dr. Wang’s record as “very significantly more productive” than recently tenured Indian colleagues.
External experts from UT Austin and Brigham Young University labeled SMU’s rejection “ludicrous,” noting that Dr. Wang’s dossier would qualify him for full professor at top-20 business schools.
The complaint also highlights cultural segregation in office assignments in 2024. Indian male professors reportedly received prime offices with scenic views of Bishop Boulevard, while East Asian faculty were placed at the opposite end of the hallway.
Additionally, SMU’s HR records allegedly misclassified Dr. Wang as “White” despite his clear Chinese/East Asian identity, which the suit claims was done deliberately to obscure his minority status.
In February 2024, six months before his tenure dossier submission, Dr. Desai and Wayne Shaw allegedly told Dr. Wang that he would receive negative votes regardless of his achievements. When Dr. Wang complained to the Chief Diversity Officer and appealed internally, he faced further retaliation. His department vote was 3-1 against him (all three Indian faculty voting no), followed by negative decisions from the Promotion & Tenure Committee and Dean.
Dr. Wang has also accused the university of violating academic freedom by criticizing his research on race-based discrimination while accepting similar work from an Indian colleague.
SMU has categorically denied all allegations of discrimination and retaliation, stating that tenure decisions were based on merit. The university’s initial court response was brief and offered no detailed rebuttal to the specific claims. The case is scheduled for trial on February 1, 2027.
Dr. Wang is seeking substantial compensatory and punitive damages, back pay, and strong injunctive relief, including immediate reinstatement with tenure, promotion review to Full Professor, and policy changes to eliminate subjective “fit” criteria in future tenure decisions.
This lawsuit raises uncomfortable questions about merit, ethnicity, and power dynamics within U.S. university departments. It suggests that in some cases, academic decisions may be influenced more by ethnic networks than by objective scholarship.
You can also join our WhatsApp group to get premium and selected news of The Mooknayak on WhatsApp. Click here to join the WhatsApp group.
'The Mooknayak' practices democratic journalism. It is a media platform committed to the Constitution, democracy, and social justice. If you also want 'The Mooknayak' to always raise the voices of the marginalized and show the pain of the voiceless, please support us.
Please Contribute