USC Arts and Sciences Dean Fired : Action Taken After Refusal to Resign; No Reason Given

A top USC administrator was abruptly fired this week by President James H. Zumberge after refusing to leave his post voluntarily as vice president and dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

The dismissal of Irwin C. Lieb, who came to USC in 1981 from the University of Texas at Austin, has been greeted with dismay by members of the faculty and staff, many of whom regard Lieb as having greatly improved the quality of the teaching staff and initiated important academic projects.

Zumberge was unavailable for comment. Lieb said he was not given a clear explanation for the request that he resign.

Indications of Reasons

But his fellow administrators, Lieb said, had indicated that he somehow had not been a “team player” and that he had been too critical of certain campus procedures, most notably a complex new budgeting system used by the university.

A statement released in Zumberge’s behalf by Lieb’s immediate superior, Cornelius Pings, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, gave little clue as to why Lieb was fired, except to acknowledge that the initial decision was made a year ago.

“Effective immediately, Dr. Irwin C. Lieb has been relieved of all duties and terminated,” Zumberge’s statement said.

“After numerous discussions among Dr. Lieb, Dr. Pings and myself in early 1984,” it continued, “I informed Dr. Lieb that I did not choose to have him continue as dean. He was allowed to submit a letter of resignation on May 11, 1984. . . .

“We several times extended his period of service while he was contemplating opportunities elsewhere. However, a conversation with him on Oct. 3 and a letter from him on Oct. 4 (1985) make it clear that I must make a change immediately.”

Lieb, in a statement issued Wednesday, said he had told Zumberge during that conversation and in the letter that he would no longer “endorse the deception” that he was stepping down of his own accord to resume full-time teaching and research in the field of philosophy.

After Lieb’s dismissal Tuesday, many faculty members and administrators were reluctant to discuss the matter publicly. Some argued in private that Lieb’s intelligence and seriousness had been a threat to other administrators on campus; others argued that Lieb was often too forceful and sometimes uncooperative.

Author of 4 Books

A graduate of Princeton University, with a master’s degree from Cornell and a Ph.D. from Yale, Lieb is the author of four books. At Texas, he had been a professor of philosophy, chairman of the philosophy department and associate dean of graduate studies and vice president and dean of graduate studies. Before that he taught at Yale University and Connecticut College.

Zumberge was operated on Wednesday for prostate cancer. His prospects for recovery were said by university officials to be quite good.