WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The Department of Homeland Security has suspended a senior computer official while her academic background is confirmed.
Knight-Ridder reported Wednesday the suspension with pay of the second-ranking official was into whether she obtained her academic credentials -- including a Ph.D. in computer information systems -- from a mail-order university.
Laura Callahan, the department's deputy chief information officer, claims on her professional biography to have bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science and a Ph.D. in computer information systems from Hamilton University in Evanston, Wyo.
Senior executive service positions at Callahan's rank pay $131,342 to $142,500.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chairwoman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge recently, saying she was "particularly concerned by the possibility that Ms. Callahan may have used a bogus' degree in order to secure employment or a security clearance."
