Mića Jovanović

Mića Jovanović is a Serbian professor and director of the Forum for Security and Democracy in Serbia. He was previously the head of Belgrade's Megatrend University but resigned after allegations that he had falsely claimed to have a doctorate from the London School of Economics and had supervised a plagiarised thesis.[1]

Early life

Jovanović was born in Knjaževac, Eastern Serbia, in 1953. He completed high school in Bor (1972) and graduated from the Graduate School of Political Sciences in Belgrade (1976). He got his Master Degree in the fields of Sociology of Work from the same school (1979). Jovanović stated that gained his PhD degree at the University of Maribor (Slovenia) in 1991 in the field of Organizational Sciences. Jovanović started his university career immediately upon graduation in 1976, and became university professor in 1996.

Career

From 1976 and 1991, he worked at the University of Belgrade (with interruptions due to his engagements in the U.K.), and from 1991 at Megatrend Business School, he became a university professor there in 1996. Between 1997 and 1999, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Management in Zaječar. In 1999, he became Rector of Megatrend University of Belgrade.

From 1983 until 1989, Jovanović gave lectures on self-management and work motivation at various foreign universities: London School of Economics (1983), Bradford University (1983), Portsmouth Polytechnics (1983), Freie Universität Berlin (1987), Okayama University, Japan (1989), University of Tokyo (1991), École supérieure de commerce, Grenoble (1997), Seoul National University (1998). Between 1983 and 1989 he was a member of the research team of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the project called "The Future of Work in the Automotive Industry with a View to an Impact of Robotization to the Labour".

Jovanović founded the Megatrend University in 1989, which has since been called a "degree mill",[2] and one of a number of private universities Serbia with "reputations for quick, rather than quality, education and links to political parties."[3][4] The university was funded by war profiteers from Slobodan Milošević's party and money from tuition fees was used to fund planes and yachts for Jovanović and others.[5]

Controversy

In June 2014 Reuters reported that following criticisms by British based Serbian academics of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia Nebojša Stefanović's doctoral dissertation Jovanović, Stefanović's mentor, called them "so-called scientists" who were questioning his credibility "with all that I have behind me as a scientist." In response a law lecturer at the University of Nottingham, Dr. Marko Milanovic, challenged Jovanovic's claim to have a PhD. from the London School of Economics (LSE) Jovanovic later resigned as Rector of Megatrend University after being urged to do so by the Serbian Minister of Education.[1][6][3] The original story in the Serbian media reported a statement by him that he had obtained his doctorate studying under the "famous professor Stephen Wood of the London School of Economics".[6] Wood confirmed that a dissertation had been submitted but that it had been rejected.[7] LSE and the University of London also denied that had granted Jovanovic a doctorate.[6]

Subsequently Jovanovic left Serbia, saying that he had "no intention of doing anything more in Serbia."[8]

Awards and honors

In 2012, Jovanovic was awarded by the Universidad del Norte of Paraquay with Doctoris Honoris Causa. He was decorated by King of Spain Juan Carlos I with the Order of Civil Merit, in February 2013.

Selected bibliography

Books

Co-authored books

References

  1. 1 2 "Bogus academic claims tarnish Serbia's ivory tower". The Australian. June 30, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  2. ↑ Suvakovic, Zorana (July 26, 2014). "Serbia's degree mills". Al Jazeera. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Robinson, Matt (23 June 2014). "The minister, his mentor and the fight against a suspect system in Serbia". Reuters. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "Serbia: Every tenth diploma forged". InSerbia. June 26, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  5. ↑ Šimičević, Hrvoje (14 July 2014). "Aleksandar Vučić: from deck hand to captain of media control in Serbia". Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Grusic, Ugljesa; Milanovic, Marko. "The fight for academic integrity in Serbia". University of Nottingham/Newsroom. University of Nottingham. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  7. ↑ Stefanović, Nebojša (9 June 2014). "Serbia: A plagiarism case for satire". Die Presse. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  8. ↑ http://www.alo.rs/vesti/aktuelno/mica-napustio-sam-sps-i-srbiju/67507
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