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The Winona Daily News could find no evidence of the existence of the school he cited as having awarded him master’s and doctorate degrees.
David Kulas of Wiscoy Township dropped out of the race for the Winona Area Public Schools board seat held by Kelly Herold on Tuesday, five days after being questioned about his advanced degrees by the Daily News. Kulas cited medical concerns.
Kulas, 61, who has taught at Winona State University, has publicly referred to himself as Dr. David Kulas, including on recent campaign filing forms and on a campaign Web site. He said he obtained doctorate and master’s degrees from Hamner University in Wales in 1998 and 2000, respectively.
But British and Welsh government agencies, Welsh higher education officials and people in the town that was said to be the home of the university said they’ve never heard of Hamner, despite Kulas’ claims it was open from 1877 to 2000. He has said he has visited the university.
Representatives at the United Kingdom’s Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, the British agency responsible for higher education, had no records of a Hamner University ever existing. Neither did a representative in the Welsh Assembly’s Department of Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills.
The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, which disburses funds from the Welsh government to higher education institutions, also had no record of Hamner, said Emma Raczka, a communications manager for the council, said.
A Hamner Web site states the school was affiliated with the Universities and Colleges Admission Service, the institution through which almost all students entering British universities and colleges must apply. Raczka wrote in an e-mail that she inquired with UCAS about Hamner and found it had no record of the school.
Kulas had no explanation when told that British and Welsh officials had no records of Hamner.
In an interview with the Daily News Wednesday, Kulas suggested that he may have been duped by someone he met in Egypt in the early 1990s.
“I met the guy and he said he could give me a degree,” he said. “So I paid him some money.
“This guy said it was (legitimate), and I jumped through the hoops. I did it in good faith from this guy.”
Kulas said he doesn’t know where the man is or how to reach him.
From 1996 until 2000, Kulas taught in the Computer Science and the Business Administration departments at WSU. Originally an adjunct professor and then an instructor, Kulas was hired as a fixed-term assistant professor during his last year. That position does not require a graduate degree, but Kulas submitted transcripts stating he had received a doctorate, WSU director of public information Andrea Mikkelsen said.
Kulas said he won’t accept the school board seat, even if he wins. But his name will still be on the primary ballot because he missed the deadline to withdraw from the race.
