Today I e-mailed the following ethics complaint to Donald Weinstein, chairperson of the American Polygraph Association's Ethics & Grievances committee and cc'd it to the board of directors of the California Association of Polygraph Examiners, of which Mr. Gelb is a member:


Quote:

9 June 2006 Hart Nibbrigkade 22 2597 XV The Hague The Netherlands maschke@antipolygraph.org Mr. Donald Weinstein Chairperson, Ethics & Grievance Committee American Polygraph Association directorthree@polygraph.org Dear Mr. Weinstein: I write to you in your capacity as chairperson of the American Polygraph Association (APA)’s Ethics & Grievance Committee to bring to your attention misconduct by Edward I. Gelb of Los Angeles, a past president of the APA, who I believe remains a member. In marketing his polygraph services, Mr. Gelb holds himself out to the public as holding a Ph.D. degree in psychology. On his website (http://www.polygraphexpert.org) [sic, correct .com], Mr. Gelb styles himself, “Dr. Edward I. Gelb, Ph.D.” In 1997, he represented himself as a Ph.D. to the United States Supreme Court as a co-signer (http://truth.boisestate.edu/amicus/list.html) of the Committee of Concerned Social Scientists’ amicus brief (http://truth.boisestate.edu/amicus/brief.html) in U.S. v. Scheffer, where he is listed as “Ed Gelb, Ph.D.” However, AntiPolygraph.org has assembled compelling evidence that Mr. Gelb never received a doctoral degree from any accredited university. The comprehensive Dissertation Abstracts database (the definitive worldwide collection of doctoral dissertations including over 1.6 million records dating back to 1861) includes no doctoral dissertation by an Edward Gelb. AntiPolygraph.org has obtained a copy of Gelb’s resume (see attachment) that was included in court documents filed in a civil suit in 2002. Writing about himself in the third person, here is what Gelb says about his educational background: “Dr. Gelb was educated at the University of Southern California, LaSalle University and U.C.L.A.. He has been awarded a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in psychology.” Gelb doesn’t state where or when he earned which degree. Perhaps he wished the court to infer that he listed the universities in the same order that he listed his degrees and that he earned a bachelor’s degree at USC, a master’s degree at LaSalle, and a doctorate at UCLA. But this is certainly not the case. Had Gelb earned his Ph.D. at UCLA (or USC), his dissertation would surely be included in the Dissertation Abstracts database. That leaves LaSalle University. There is a legitimate institution of higher learning called LaSalle University in Philadelphia, but it awarded its first Ph.D. degree of any kind in 2002, years after Gelb began putting the letters “Ph.D.” after his name. Mr. Gelb did not earn a doctoral degree there. The “LaSalle University” that awarded Gelb his “doctorate” is a defunct, unaccredited diploma mill in Mandeville, Louisiana that was owned and operated by one Thomas James Kirk, A.K.A. Thomas McPherson. In 1996, LaSalle was raided by the FBI, and in 1997 Kirk pled guilty to federal fraud charges. On 2 May 2006, the city council of Long Beach, California voted to approve a $150,000 one-year, extensible contract with Mr. Gelb’s company, Intercept, Inc., to provide polygraph services to the Long Beach Police Department. Mr. Gelb’s misrepresentation of himself as a Ph.D. may have unduly influenced Long Beach officials’ decision making in awarding this contract. Mr. Gelb’s claim to academic honors he has not earned gives him an unfair competitive edge over those who do not fraudulently claim to have doctoral degrees and misleads the public. I trust that you will promptly investigate this matter, and I look forward to receiving, in accordance with section 9.1.1.5 of the APA bylaws, notification from the General Chair “of whether disciplinary action was taken.” Sincerely, George W. Maschke AntiPolygraph.org PS: A copy of this complaint will be made available on AntiPolygraph.org. Enclosure: Resume of Edward I. Gelb

The letter of complaint, sent as a PDF attachment, may be downloaded here:

http://antipolygraph.org/documents/gelb-complaint-09-05-2006.pdf

The American Polygraph Association's response to this complaint, when received, will be posted here.