The Facts On Kundra's College Records

I'm hesitant to address this topic, since I don't really want to draw additional attention to an erroneous report. But this piece from PC Magazine columnist John Dvorak on his blog Dvorak Uncensored has been creating enough buzz this morning that I felt it necessary to clear up a few points Dvorak raises.

Dvorak alleges that federal chief information officer Vivek Kundra has been lying about his academic record, specifically that Kundra did not receive a Master's in Information Technology from University of Maryland as he claims. Dvorak bases this allegation on a search of the UMD registrar's database, which confirms Kundra was a student until 1998 but doesn't mention any graduate program. He goes on to say, "In fact the current University of Maryland grad department doesn't even show this degree as being commonly available to anyone."

That's somewhat correct, since the University of Maryland, College Park does not offer any such degree. However, after a few phone calls I was able to verify that Kundra did receive a Master's degree in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland University College in 2001. That seems to conform with his official bio, where it states he "holds a MS in Information Technology from the University of Maryland."

Dvorak obviously doesn't think too highly about Kundra's qualifications for his job, or those of federal chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra. But I was able to verify Kundra's degree with just a few phone calls in under two hours. Dvorak's arguments for why Kundra and Chopra are not qualified for their posts would be more compelling if he didn't resort to unverified accusations to support them.