Matthew C. Whitaker is an American historian. He was an associate professor of history and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at Arizona State University (ASU); in January 2016 ASU announced that he had resigned these positions.[1]
Whitaker became the subject of public controversy in Arizona when he was demoted, but temporarily retained on the faculty of Arizona State University despite being found to have committed "significant" plagiarism.[2] He was placed on administrative leave on September 17, 2015, while the university investigated allegations that "his behavior has fallen short of expectations as a faculty member and a scholar."[3] On January 15, 2016, ASU released a statement that Whitaker would immediately step down from his center co-directorship and would resign his faculty position effective May 2017.[1]