Holford Myths: what is the problem with Nutritionist Patrick Holford?

HolfordWatch wrote up the intriguing story of the proper form of title for Professor Patrick Holford of Teesside University. The FOIA documents show a story of dissent from some quarters and some stern words to Patrick Holford on the form of title that he should be using.

HolfordWatch, inexplicably, seems to have missed bringing our attention to document 17, an email from Karen Alexander to Patrick Holford, dated September 07, 2007. The text of the email is from Professor Henderson, Chair of the Professorial Conferment Committee.

[I]t has been drawn to our attention that, following your conferment, you (at least temporarily) adopted the title of Visiting Professor in Mental Health and Nutrition. Can I stress that it is not normally University practice to attach a descriptor to the title of Visiting Professor but, if that were to be considered appropriate, such titles must be agreed with me (as Chair of the Professorial Conferment Committee) after discussion with the Dean of the relevant School. In your case, it is important to stress that the nomination for conferment of the title of Visiting Professor was submitted by our School of Social Sciences and Law (not by our School of Health & Social Care) and any agreed title would need to reflect the contribution that we anticipate you making to our work in psychology rather than in the field of mental health or nutrition. Could I therefore re-iterate Tony Chapman’s earlier request to you that you do not use the title of “Visiting Professor in Mental Health & Nutrition” and that you liase with Liz Barnes, Dean of our School of Social Sciences & Law, if you would like to adopt another relevant title that describes your current and future engagement with the University.

We would like to suggest something involving the words embarrassment or liability.

After a quick look through some of the FOIA documents, it seems that the business case for Patrick Holford’s involvement may be almost as insubstantial as his academic credentials and scholarship. Is this really the way that the University of Teesside hoped to raise their profile? They might think that actions such as the above are the best that they can do in a damage-limitation exercise but they are alone in believing that.

Update 24.02.2008: We have browsed through the recently-released FOIA documents relating to this appointment. Apparently, the University of Teesside did not have any fact-checking procedures in place. Document 15, an email from Professor Henderson to the Professorial Conferment Committee, dated 07.09.2007.

The University is currently investing a lot of time and resources into investigating some of the concerns that have been expressed, with a view to determining what action, if any, may now be necessary or appropriate. In the meantime, however, the University has instructed Patrick that he should not continue to use the title of Visiting Professor of Mental Health & Nutrition, which he appears to have adopted without the formal approval of the University, as this would appear to suggest that he is in fact a Visiting Professor in the School of Health and Social Care linked to our nutrition and obesity research group, which clearly is not the case.

Document 13, email from Tony Chapman 06.09.2007 discusses a phone call with Patrick Holford:

We had a discussion about areas of expertise and Patrick has agreed not to refer to his position using the terms ‘mental health’ or ‘nutrition’…
To help him understand why this is our preferred option, I explained that the use of the terms nutrition and mental health caused potential confusion, externally, about the different research activities and activities in the School of Health and Social Care and it our own School. I made this point in the context of research territories rather than alluding to any criticism which may or may not have been made about his approach.