Doctor Rescinds Her Resignation From Stanford

The Stanford University Medical School professor who resigned after saying she was a victim of subtle sexual harassment said on Wednesday she has decided to remain at the school.

But Dr. Frances Conley, who was one of the first female brain surgeons in the nation, said she won’t tolerate the same sexist environment that drove her to announce her resignation in May.

“Under no circumstances will I put up with what I did in the past,” said Conley, 50. “If the environment there is not changed by the steps they’re taking now to improve things, I will be history once again.”

She decided to remain on the Stanford faculty after colleagues persuaded her things won’t change without her help, Conley said.

“The support I got was unbelievable; the message got out,” Conley said. “And I have hope that things at the university are at least moving toward the correct direction.”

She said she did not withdraw her resignation because of employment problems. “I’ve gotten lots of other offers,” she said, declining, however, to identify the job offers. She also said that Stanford did not lure her back with pay increases.

Conley’s announcement that she would resign caused an uproar at Stanford and across the nation, including other medical schools as people debated the medical profession’s treatment of women.

Conley, whose last day was supposed to be Friday, claimed that during her two decades as student and professor at Stanford she put up with subtle discrimination, subservient treatment, inappropriate comments and sexual advances, including male doctors rubbing her legs under the table.

The medical school has set up a committee to study the problem of sexual harassment of female doctors and students who have complained about subtle discrimination and blatant sexual advances. And the school plans to conduct a national search for a new department chairman--something Conley also insisted upon after criticizing a proposal to give a male colleague the job.

Robert Cutler, senior associate dean for faculty affairs at the medical school, said Stanford was pleased with Conley’s decision.

Conley said she plans to spend most of her time working and teaching at the Veteran’s Medical Center in Palo Alto, where she’s chief of the neurosurgery staff away from the Stanford Medical School.